A PORTRAIT of Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been removed from the Oxford college where she studied as the death toll of fleeing Royingya refugees in shipwreck passed 60.

Suu Kyi studied at St Hugh's College between 1964 and 1967, earning a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. The Swan student newspaper reported the painting was taken down on Thursday and replaced with a painting by Yoshihiro Takada.

Aung San Suu Kyi has recently been pressed to take urgent action to end the suffering of the Muslim Rohingya people in Burma. Her position as State Counsellor does not give her authority over the military, but she has faced international criticism for her failure to speak out against alleged human rights abuses including mass killings, gang rapes and the burning of villages.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has called on Ms Suu Kyi to "show the leadership she is capable of to try to heal that terrible situation".

The Rohingya refugees fleeing to Bangladesh are believed to have died when their boat capsized on Friday.

More than 500,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled Rakhine state since August 25 when a crackdown by the Burmese military began, many making the precarious journey to Bangladesh by sea.