Senate votes to strip Aung San Suu Kyi of honorary Canadian citizenship
News Desk, bdnews24.com
Published: 2018-10-03 13:19:14.0 BdST Updated: 2018-10-03 13:19:14.0 BdST
The Senate formally revoked the symbolic honour that had been bestowed on the de facto Myanmar leader in 2007. Senators unanimously adopted a motion tabled by Independent Senator Ratna Omidvar in the red chamber, according to CBC News.
Sen. Omidvar called it "an appropriate message to send to her, Myanmar and to the world.
"We need 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,” she said.
"Stripping her of her honorary citizenship may not make a tangible difference to her, but it sends an important symbolic message."
A United Nations fact-finding mission recently found the Myanmar military was committing genocide against the minority Muslim population and other ethnic minorities, and that Suu Kyi had failed in her duty to protect her own citizens.
The report names six military commanders in Myanmar who should be investigated for genocide in Rakhine state and crimes against humanity in other areas, calling their actions "shocking for their horrifying nature and ubiquity."
It also condemns Suu Kyi for failing to use her power or moral authority to stem or prevent the genocide and fulfil her responsibility to protect the civilian population. Instead, civilian authorities have spread false narratives, allowed hate speech to flourish and blocked independent investigations, the report says.
Omidvar said Suu Kyi has been complicit in stripping the citizenship and the security of thousands of Rohingya, leading to mass murder, rape and displacement, the CBC news reports.
Conservative Sen. Raynell Andreychuk said revoking Suu Kyi's citizenship is necessary because Canadians believe the honour has been breached, and she expects that the government will take further action to respond to the crisis.
About 700,000 Rohingya forced to flee the military crackdown are now living in squalid, overcrowded refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh.
@Aung Zaya
News Desk, bdnews24.com
Published: 2018-10-03 13:19:14.0 BdST Updated: 2018-10-03 13:19:14.0 BdST
The Senate formally revoked the symbolic honour that had been bestowed on the de facto Myanmar leader in 2007. Senators unanimously adopted a motion tabled by Independent Senator Ratna Omidvar in the red chamber, according to CBC News.
Sen. Omidvar called it "an appropriate message to send to her, Myanmar and to the world.
"We need 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,” she said.
"Stripping her of her honorary citizenship may not make a tangible difference to her, but it sends an important symbolic message."
A United Nations fact-finding mission recently found the Myanmar military was committing genocide against the minority Muslim population and other ethnic minorities, and that Suu Kyi had failed in her duty to protect her own citizens.
The report names six military commanders in Myanmar who should be investigated for genocide in Rakhine state and crimes against humanity in other areas, calling their actions "shocking for their horrifying nature and ubiquity."
It also condemns Suu Kyi for failing to use her power or moral authority to stem or prevent the genocide and fulfil her responsibility to protect the civilian population. Instead, civilian authorities have spread false narratives, allowed hate speech to flourish and blocked independent investigations, the report says.
Omidvar said Suu Kyi has been complicit in stripping the citizenship and the security of thousands of Rohingya, leading to mass murder, rape and displacement, the CBC news reports.
Conservative Sen. Raynell Andreychuk said revoking Suu Kyi's citizenship is necessary because Canadians believe the honour has been breached, and she expects that the government will take further action to respond to the crisis.
About 700,000 Rohingya forced to flee the military crackdown are now living in squalid, overcrowded refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh.
@Aung Zaya
