Canada revokes Myanmar leader’s honorary citizenship

Canada‘s parliament formally stripped Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary Canadian citizenship for complicity in the atrocities committed against Myanmar’s Rohingya.

Aung San Suu Kyi became the first person to have her honorary Canadian citizenship revoked on Tuesday.

The Senate voted unanimously to strip Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s civilian leader, of the symbolic honour bestowed on her in 2007.

The upper house’s move follows a similar unanimous vote in the House of Commons last week.

A United Nations fact-finding mission reported last month Myanmar’s military has systematically killed thousands of Rohingya civilians, burned hundreds of their villages, and engaged in ethnic cleansing and mass gang rape.

It called for top generals to be investigated and prosecuted for genocide.

The Senate has also followed the lead of the Commons in recognising that the crimes against humanity committed by the Myanmar military against the Rohingya constitute a genocide.

“We must recognise this atrocity for what it is,” said Senator Ratna Omidvar, who introduced the motion to revoke Aung San Suu Kyi’s citizenship on Tuesday.

“It is genocide. We must call it as it is.”

‘Shining light’

Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her fight for democracy in Myanmar.

“At that point, she was a champion for change and human rights … The world pinned its hope on her as the shining light and hope for a democratic and peaceful Myanmar,” said Omidvar. “As we all now know, that was not to be.”

Omidvar said Aung San Suu Kyi has denied the atrocities, restricted access to international investigators and journalists, defended the military, and denied humanitarian aid for the Rohingya.

“We need to send a strong signal here in Canada and around the world that if you’re an accomplice of genocide, you are not welcome here. Certainly not as an honorary Canadian citizen.”