DHAKA: Aung San Suu Kyi was formally stripped of an honor granting her the Freedom of Oxford because of her response to the Rohingya crisis, reports BBC.

The de facto leader of Myanmar was granted the freedom of the city in 1997 for her "long struggle for democracy".

But Oxford city councillors said they did not want to honor "those who turn a blind eye to violence".

More than half a million Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh following recent violence.

Suu Kyi spent years under house arrest in Rangoon as a campaigner for democracy while Myanmar as ruled by a military dictatorship.

But her failure to denounce the military or address allegations of ethnic cleansing has been criticized by world leaders and groups such as Amnesty International.

Oxford City Council voted to permanently remove her honor at a meeting earlier, after a preliminary vote in October.

St Hugh's College, Oxford, where Suu Kyi studied, has removed her portrait from display earlier.

BDST: 1155 HRS, NOV 28, 2017
SI