The parliament of Canada has unanimously voted to strip Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary citizenship over her handling of the Rohingya crisis.
Thursday's vote came a week after Canadian MPs approved a motion recognising the crimescommitted against the Rohingya as genocide.
Aung San Suu Kyi received the honour from Ottawa in 2007, when she was a democracy advocate under long house arrest. But the Myanmar leader has been under fire for her failure to condemn the military campaign that has driven more than 700,000 Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh in what the UN human rights chief called "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing".
Canadian parliament's decision to revoke the symbolic honour was due to a "persistent refusal to denounce the Rohingya genocide", said Adam Austen, spokesman for Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland.
"We will continue to support the Rohingya by providing humanitarian assistance, imposing sanctions against Myanmar's generals and demanding that those responsible be held accountable before a competent international body," said Austen.
MP Gabriel Ste Marie, who proposed the motion, told reporters he thought the vote was "a great symbol".
Member of Parliament Salma Zahid called Aung San Suu Kyi's "unwillingness to take any moral leadership ... inexcusable, and deeply disappointing".
Parliament just unanimously agreed to revoke the honorary Canadian citizenship of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi. Her unwillingness to take any moral leadership for the genocide of the Rohingya in her country is inexcusable, and deeply disappointing.
— Salma Zahid (@SalmaZahid15) September 27, 2018
Rights organisations have accused Myanmar military of committing extrajudicial killings, gang rape and arson during their bloody campaign launched in August last year after army posts came under attack from Rohingya fighters.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya now live in cramped refugee camps in Bangladesh, fearful of returning home despite a repatriation deal.
Andrew Leslie, Minister Freeland's parliamentary secretary, said "the machinery of government will chew over the details of what specifically is required to implement" the motion.
Only five other individuals have ever been given honorary citizenship in Canada, including the Dalai Lama, Malala Yousafzai and Nelson Mandela.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
Courtesy: www.aljazeera.com
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New Delhi, May 17 (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at the government for "informing" Pakistan about targeting terror infrastructure as part of Operation Sindoor, saying it was a crime and asking who had authorised it.
In a post on X, Gandhi questioned External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar for publicly admitting that the government of India (GOI) had informed Pakistan of the action and asked how many aircraft the Indian Air Force lost as a result.
"Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it. Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our air force lose as a result?" said Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha.
He also shared an undated video of Jaishankar saying India had informed Pakistan of the action against terror infrastructure on its soil.
Jaishankar can be heard saying in the video, "At the start of the operation, we had sent a message to Pakistan, saying, 'We are striking at terrorist infrastructure and we are not striking at the military.'"
"So the military has the option of standing out and not interfering in this process. They chose not to take that good advice," the minister can be heard saying in the clip.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB), however, has debunked claims that Jaishankar had said India informed Pakistan ahead of Operation Sindoor. In a post on X, the PIB's Fact Check Unit said the minister had not made any such statement and that he was being misquoted.
Operation Sindoor was the Indian offensive against terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam.
Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 17, 2025
EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it.
1. Who authorised it?
2. How many aircraft did our airforce lose as a result? pic.twitter.com/KmawLLf4yW