Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of the Freedom of Oxford award over her "inaction" in handling the raging Rohingya refugee crisis and turning a "blind eye to violence" in the country that forced over 600,000 people to flee to Bangladesh.
Oxford City Council voted unanimously last night to permanently remove the honour given to 72-year-old Suu Kyi in 1997.
"Today we have taken the unprecedented step of stripping her of her city's highest honour because of her inaction in the face of oppression of the minority Rohingya population," Councillor Mary Clarkson said.
"We hope that today we have added our small voice to others calling for human rights and justice for the Rohingya people," she said in a statement.
More than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh following a military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine state, creating one of the world's most dire refugee crisis. last week, Myanmar signed a deal with Bangladesh to allow the refugees to return home.