Canada Parliament revokes Aung San Suu Kyi’s honorary citizenship

: Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first person to be stripped of honorary Canadian citizenship.

After the Canadian House of Commons passed a motion revoking that symbolic honour last week, it was ratified unanimously by Canada’s Senate on Tuesday and became a formal action.

The Senate motion was moved by Indian-origin senator Ratna Omidvar, who said in her speech the chamber needed “to send a strong signal here in Canada and around the world that if you’re an accomplice of a genocide, you are not welcome here. Certainly not as an honorary Canadian citizen.” State Counsellor Suu Kyi is accused of, at the very least, turning a blind eye to atrocities against the Rohingya minority perpetrated by the Myanmar government and military.

The House of Commons had unanimously passed the motion and the Senate followed suit. Omidvar, in her speech, said, “Stripping her of her honorary citizenship may not make a tangible difference to her, but it sends an important symbolic message.

“She has been complicit in stripping the citizenship and the security of thousands of Rohingya, which has led to their flight, their murder, their rapes and their current deplorable situation. It is an appropriate message to send to her, to Myanmar and to the world.”