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, as reported by AFP.
"Today we have taken the unprecedented step of stripping her of the city's highest honor 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 honoring 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. Suu Kyi's late husband Michael Aris was a lecturer in Asian history at the university, and the couple lived and raised their two sons in the city.
In September, an Oxford college removed a portrait of Suu Kyi from public display and placed it in storage. Earlier in November, Irish musician and founder of Live Aid Bob Geldof returned his Freedom of the City of Dublin award, a civic honor also held by Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi was also dubbed 2017's "International Islamophobe of the Year" on Sunday by the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission, beating U.S. President Donald Trump, French National Front leader Marine Le Pen and far-right Dutch Freedom Party chief Geert Wilders, according to Anadolu Agency.
