London School of Economics makes call to strip Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi of honorary presidency over Rohingya crisis

Ms Suu Kyi was previously nominated the honorary president of LSE's student union
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Martin Coulter3 November 2017

The London School of Economics students' union is calling for Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi to be stripped of her honourary presidency.

Ms Suu Kyi has been widely criticised for her "victim-blaming" over the ongoing Rohingya refugee crisis in her country.

The union has criticised her silence and inaction over the issue branding her "complicit in the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people".

More than 400,000 of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority have fled across the border into Bangladesh, following a "crackdown on insurgents" by the military.

A spokesman for LSE students' union said: "Suu Kyi's choice to prioritise her tenure in office over anything else has come at too significant a cost - her complicity in the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people.

"LSESU has a long history of embracing political progress and speaking out against corruption and violence; Ms Suu Kyi was once seen as a symbol of resistance, non-violence and freedom.

"We believe (...) silence in the face of violence is not acceptable. We condemn the Muslim genocide in Myanmar, we condemn all Islamophobia, and we will actively work against any system which is complicit in supporting the violence."

Ms Suu Kyi was once among the world's most respected political prisoners, as the Mynanmar army regularly detained her under house arrest for a total amounting to nearly 15 years between 1989 and 2010.

Ms Suu Kyi has previously taken part in panel debates at LSE
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Myanmar's military junta ruled the country between 1962 and 2011. Despite Ms Suu Kyi's eventual release and election to the role of "state counsellor" (a role akin to prime minister), they maintain control over the army, police and key cabinet positions.

A number of British institutions have reassessed their relationship with Ms Suu Kyi. St Hugh's College, of Oxford University, removed a painting her earlier this year in response to her role in the humanitarian crisis.

The university said it "hopes the Myanmar administration, led by Oxford alumna Aung San Suu Kyi, can eliminate discrimination and oppression, and demonstrate to the world that Myanmar values the lives of its citizens."

The LSE student union is due to debate the motion on November 9.

The Evening Standard has contacted Ms Suu Kyi for comment.

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