Suu Kyi stripped of Freedom of Oxford
Oxford City Council said it was “no longer appropriate”
St Hugh’s alumnus and the de facto leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, has seen been stripped of the Freedom of Oxford by the city’s council because of her response to the Rohingya crisis.
Suu Kyi was granted the honour twenty years ago for her “long struggle for democracy”, and lived in Oxford after marrying Michael Aris, a senior research fellow at St Antony’s College in 1972.
The State Counsellor, who spent many years under house arrest in Rangoon as a campaigner for democracy, has been criticised for the fact that more than half a million Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh following recent violence.
According to the BBC, other organisations are now questioning honours given to Ms Suu Kyi.
Bob Price, Oxford City Council leader, supported the motion to remove her honour and argued it was an “unprecedented step” for the council.
People are “absolutely appalled” by the situation in the country, he added, claiming it was “extraordinary” the PPE graduate had not acted on the reported atrocities in the country.
Last week, The Swan released the news that St Hugh’s College, where Ms Suu Kyi studied as an undergraduate from 1964–67, had removed her portrait from Main Building to a “secure location”.
