THE leader of Burma faces having the freedom of Glasgow stripped from her because of her failure to condemn the violence and persecution against Rohingya Muslims in the country.
Aung San Suu Kyi has drawn increasing criticism in recent months for her apparent defence of Burma's treatment of its Rohingya minority, described by the UN as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing".
Glasgow city councillors unanimously agreed to write to Ms Suu Kyi to raise their "concerns" over their situation and to condemn the ongoing violence.
Now Lord Provost Eva Bolander has received a response from the Burmese leader and councillors will decide next month whether to go ahead with stripping her of the honour if she has failed to condemn the violence and the situation has not improved.
The move comes as a number of British institutions say they are reviewing or removing honours bestowed on Ms Suu Kyi during her campaign for democracy under Myanmar’s oppressive military junta.
She is to be stripped of the freedom of the city of Oxford, where she studied as an undergraduate, over her response to the crisis, while councillors in Sheffield will vote to do the same next month.
Glasgow council bestowed the freedom of the city on Ms Suu Kyi in 1997, when she was being held as a political prisoner by Myanmar's military junta.
Now Labour councillor Bailie Soryia Siddique will look to set in motion the process of stripping the award at the next full council meeting in November.
She said: "There is an ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Burma and her response has so far been totally unsatisfactory.
"Other cities have already stripped her and I think it is something we should look at in the future unless the situation in Burma changes dramatically.
"I will wait to see how she has responded to the Lord Provost's letter and we will raise it at the next full meeting."
Green councillor Martha Wardrop added: "It is a matter for the Provost but it should be looked at given the ongoing situation and I would support it."
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh causing a refugee crisis along the border.
It has led to a number of British institutions to review or remove honours bestowed during her campaign for democracy.
The governing body of St Hugh's college, Oxford, where she studied, recently removed her portrait from display and Unison, Britain's second largest trade union, announced last month that it would suspend her honorary membership.
Bristol University, which awarded her an honorary degree, said it was reviewing its award and the London School of Economics' student union said it would be stripping her of her honorary presidency.
As a leader of Myanmar's 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's 2015 election, and was eventually given the title of state counsellor.
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 “tragic and shameful” treatment of the Rohingya after violence that left hundreds dead.
In a speech this week Ms Suu Kyi failed to roundly condemn the military forces, and instead claimed that there had been “no conflicts since 5 September and no clearance operations” against the country’s Muslim minority.
The Disasters Emergency Committee has stepped up its humanitarian relief as more than half a million people, mainly Muslim Rohingya, have fled the violence.
Amnesty International called the speech a “mix of untruths and victim-blaming”.
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