Print Print edition: 2017-11-29

Oxford strips Suu Kyi of city's freedom

Published November 29, 2017 Updated November 29, 2017 12:00am

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of the honorific freedom of Oxford, the British city where she studied and raised her children, over her "inaction" in the Rohingya crisis. "When Aung San Suu Kyi was given the Freedom of the City in 1997 it was because she reflected Oxford's values of tolerance and internationalism," the city council said in a statement issued late Monday. "Today we have taken the unprecedented step of stripping her of the city's highest honour because of her inaction in the face of the oppression of the minority Rohingya population," added the release, which was published after a unanimous vote.
"Our reputation is tarnished by honouring those who turn a blind eye to violence." Oxford's world-renowned university removed portraits of Suu Kyi, a former student, from its walls in September.