![\"Suu-Kyi-3\"](\"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Suu-Kyi-3-1-300x169.jpg\")
International desk: One of Britain\u2019s largest trade unions has suspended an award given to Aung San Suu Kyi during her time as a political prisoner, as international criticism mounts over her tepid response to Myanmar\u2019s humanitarian crisis, according to a report of The Guardian.<\/p>\n
The move comes as a number of British institutions say they are reviewing or removing honours bestowed on Aung San Suu Kyi during her campaign for democracy under Myanmar\u2019s oppressive military junta.<\/p>\n
Unison, the country\u2019s second largest trade union, announced that it is to suspend Suu Kyi\u2019s honorary membership, and urged Myanmar\u2019s de facto leader to do more to denounce the plight of the country\u2019s Rohingya people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe situation facing the Rohingya of Myanmar is appalling,\u201d Margaret McKee, Unison\u2019s president, told the Guardian. \u201cAung San Suu Kyi\u2019s honorary membership of Unison has been suspended, and we hope that she responds to international pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bristol University, one of a string of universities that awarded honorary degrees to the Burmese leader during her time in opposition, also said it was reviewing its award in light of accusations of brutal mistreatment of the Rohingya, described by the UN as a \u201ctextbook example of ethnic cleansing\u201d.<\/p>\n
Aung San Suu Kyi says Myanmar does not fear scrutiny over Rohingya crisis<\/p>\n
\u201cThe university shares the growing concern with the ongoing situation in Myanmar,\u201d a spokesperson for Bristol university said. \u201cIn 1998 we awarded an honorary degree of doctor of laws to Dr Aung San Suu Kyi, who at the time was leading the struggle for human rights and democracy in the then Burma.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of this award it would be wrong to make any decision at this time to consider revoking such an honour but we will continue to monitor and review the situation as necessary.\u201d The London School of Economics student union said it would be stripping the former political prisoner of her honorary presidency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be actively removing Aung San Suu Kyi\u2019s honorary presidency as a symbol of our opposition to her current position and inaction in the face of genocide,\u201d said Mahatir Pasha, the union\u2019s general secretary.<\/p>\n
Over the last 30 years Aung San Suu Kyi has been awarded with honorary degrees from several UK universities including Glasgow, Bath and Cambridge, as well as the freedom of several cities, and other honours. Oxford councillors have announced that they may reconsider the freedom of the city of Oxford awarded to Aung San Suu Kyi in 1997 at next month\u2019s council meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf nothing changes, I think it is very likely that the city council will be stripping her of the freedom of the city,\u201d John Tanner, an Oxford council board member, told the Oxford Mail. \u201cIt\u2019s something that we very much regret but clearly the reasons for giving her support have now changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aung San Suu Kyi has close links with the city of Oxford, having studied at St Hugh\u2019s College there as an undergraduate in the 1960s. Her late husband, Michael Aris, was an academic at the university. Oxford awarded an honorary doctorate to Aung San Suu Kyi in 1993 but she was unable to collect it until 2012.<\/p>\n
As a leader of Myanmar\u2019s opposition Aung San Suu Kyi won international praise and a Nobel peace prize in 1991. Despite being barred from running for president, she won a decisive victory in the country\u2019s 2015 election, and was eventually given a title of state counsellor.<\/p>\n
Aung San Suu Kyi: damned by her silence<\/p>\n
But in recent months she has been the object of criticism for her failure to stem the attacks against the Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic minority living along the border with Bangladesh. Among the critics has been Malala Yousafzai, herself a Nobel peace prize laureate, who earlier this month called on Aung San Suu Kyi to condemn the \u201ctragic and shameful\u201d treatment of the Rohingya after violence that left hundreds dead.<\/p>\n
The prime minister, Theresa May, has been under pressure to act after Myanmar\u2019s military forces were accused of driving hundreds of thousands of Rohingya out of the country. \u201cWe are very concerned about what\u2019s happening to the Rohingya people,\u201d May said, calling on Aung San Suu Kyi \u201cto make it very clear that the military action should stop\u201d.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday May announced that the UK would be suspending the training of the Burmese military by the Ministry of Defence \u201cuntil this issue is resolved\u201d.<\/p>\n
But in a speech this week Aung San Suu Kyi failed to roundly condemn the military forces, and instead claimed that there had been \u201cno conflicts since 5 September and no clearance operations\u201d against the country\u2019s Muslim minority. \u00a0Amnesty International called the speech a \u201cmix of untruths and victim-blaming\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
International desk: One of Britain\u2019s largest trade unions has suspended an award given to Aung San Suu Kyi during her time as a political prisoner, as international criticism mounts over her tepid response to Myanmar\u2019s humanitarian crisis, according to a report of The Guardian. The move comes as a number of British institutions say they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":36815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n