OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian legislators, in a symbolic move, on Thursday voted unanimously to strip Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary citizenship in response to crimes committed against the Rohingya minority.
The move by the House of Commons lower chamber has no effect because honorary citizenship is conferred by a joint resolution of both the House and the upper Senate chamber and officials say it must be removed the same way. Suu Kyi received hers in 2007.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Wednesday that he was open to looking at stripping Suu Kyi of the honour but said doing so would not end the crisis in Myanmar, where more than 700,000 Rohingya have fled a government crackdown.
The House of Commons last week unanimously voted to call the killings of Rohingya a genocide.
A US government investigation last month found Myanmar’s military waged a “well-planned and coordinated” campaign of mass killings, gang rapes and other atrocities against the Rohingya.
