Aung San Suu Kyi Loses Paris’s “Freedom of the City” – and It’s a Big Deal
In a move that might just make history, the city of Paris has decided to take back the honorary title it had bestowed on Myanmar’s former leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The decision comes after the mayor’s office noted that she didn’t lift a finger to speak out against the brutal crackdown on Myanmar’s Rohingya minority.
Why Paris is Pulling the Plug
- Mayor Anne Hidalgo wrote a letter a few months ago asking Suu Kyi to “express concern and call for respect for the rights of the Rohingya.”
Despite the polite request, the letter was never answered. - Paris is looking at a track record that includes “multiple violations of human rights,” mass violence, and a treatment of the Rohingya that many say is not just unpatriotic—it’s downright inhumane.
- Other UK cities—Glasgow, Edinburgh and Oxford—have already stripped honorifics from her, so Paris is following suit and turning the symbolic prize into a briefcase full of regret.
What Happens Next?
The city council will make the final call in mid‑December, which means lot the de facto leader of Myanmar could be the first person ever to lose “Freedom of the French Capital”.
How the World Is Reacting
Suu Kyi’s supporters say she has no power to take the army down a peg. Yet she’s already been stripped of honorary Canadian citizenship and her “Ambassador of Conscience Award” from Amnesty International. The world is watching the clip of her stoic resignation, and the satire folks are preparing their puns.
Rohingyas: The Real Victims
More than 700,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar last year—mostly headed to Bangladesh—after a wave of violence that the UN described in brutal terms: murder, rape, torture, and arson. The UN called for top generals to be prosecuted for “genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.”
In the end, the Paris decision underscores a message that staying silent in the face of injustice is a hard choice to make—even if you’re a legend of democracy.
