Dundee City Council will vote to decide whether Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi should become the first person to be stripped of the Freedom of Dundee.
Councillors in Edinburgh voted on Thursday to remove the honour from the Nobel peace prize winner for her refusal to condemn or intervene in sustained military violence against the Rohingya people.
It was the seventh such honour Ms Suu Kyi’s has had taken away over the past year, with Edinburgh following the example of Oxford, Glasgow and Newcastle in revoking Freedom of the City awards.
Strathmartine councillor Stewart Hunter has led calls for the Freedom of Dundee to also be stripped from Ms Suu Kyi and confirmed his intention to table a motion on the matter in October.
He said: “The state of play with Aang San Suu Kyi is that I am expecting it to come to the City Council in October and it will be debated then.
“I will be moving that we remove the Freedom of the City from her. As it is a Civic matter, I have spoken with the SNP group and SNP councillors will have a free vote and this will not be whipped.”
Ms Suu Kyi has been State Counsellor, similar to a Prime Minister, of Myanmar since 2016 and was awarded the Freedom of Dundee in 2008 following years of persecution as a leader of the country’s democracy movement.
However, she has received worldwide condemnation since coming to power for failing to condemn violence against the minority Muslim group, which the United Nations has said amounts to ethnic cleansing.
At the instruction of councillors, Lord Provost Ian Borthwick wrote to Ms Suu Kyi urging her to use her position to bring an end to the unrest and to “protect the rights and freedoms of the Rohingya people” but has not received a response.
Dundee West MP Chris Law, who also serves as the SNP’s international development spokesman, commended Edinburgh City Council for taking action and urged Dundee representatives to follow suit.
Mr Law and other members of the International Development Committee were due to travel to Myanmar in March to investigate claims of human rights abuses but were denied visas for the trip.
He said: “This Saturday marks the first anniversary of the start of the military offensive against the Rohingya people.
“It has become increasingly clear since then that Aung San Suu Kyi is unwilling to help end the crisis, and in her Government’s decision to block the visas of visiting British Parliamentarians such as myself, actively working against those who are trying to help.
“Earlier this year, I visited Bangladesh and met with many refugees who have suffered and fled for their lives from the military in the country.
“The stories I heard from them would shock anyone. I commend City of Edinburgh Council for taking the brave decision to withdraw the freedom of the city from Suu Kyi, and reiterate my call for Dundee City Council to do the same.”
