Scottish council withdraws offer to award Suu Kyi

In the wake of the Rohingya crisis, the Glasgow City Council on Friday withdrew their offer to award Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The council had offered Suu Kyi the Freedom of Glasgow in 2009, when she was still under house arrest as Myanmar's pro-democracy leader, reports BBC.

"I and the Leader, Councillor Susan Aitken, recently wrote to Aung San Suu Kyi voicing the city's concerns about the human rights atrocities occurring under her watch and urging her to intervene. The response we received was disappointing and saddening," Indian news portal The Times of India quoted Glasgow's Lord Provost Eva Bolander as saying.

The Scottish council said that withdrawing such an honour was "unprecedented" and its decision had not been taken lightly.

According to an estimate, more than 623,000 refugees have crossed over into neighbouring Bangladesh and taken shelter in crowded settlements in Cox's Bazar since August 25, fleeing a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine State.

Suu Kyi visited the Rakhine province of Myanmar this week for the first time since violence erupted in the state in late August and was criticised for failing to address the issue of refugees who have fled across the border.