Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of the honour granting her the Freedom of the City of Oxford because of her weak response to the Rohingya crisis.

Oxford city councillors agreed they did not want to honour "those who turn a blind eye to violence."

The de facto leader of Burma, an Oxford graduate, was granted freedom of the city in 1997 for her "long struggle for democracy" after spending years under house arrest in Rangoon while she fought for democracy in her homeland of Burma - also known as Myanmar.

A cross-party motion was unanimously supported at a special county council meeting in Oxford Town Hall.

Crll Mary Clarkson, who proposed the motion, said: “When Aung San Suu Kyi was given the Freedom of the City in 1997 it was because she reflected Oxford’s tolerance and internationalism.

“We celebrated her for her opposition to oppression and military rule in Burma.

“Today we have taken the unprecedented step of stripping her of the city’s highest honour because of her inaction in the face of oppression of the minority Rohingya population.”

She added that the reputation of the city was being “tarnished” by “honouring those who turn a blind eye to violence.”

Ms Suu Kyi studied PPE (politics, philosophy and economics) at St Hugh's college in Oxford, graduating with a third class degree in 1967. There have been calls for her to be stripped of the Noble Peace Prize she was awarded in 1990 following her response to the Rohingya crisis.

Rohingya refugees – in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya refugees – in pictures A young girl and a baby wade through mud after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh from Burma on 10 September Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya refugees walk through a camp in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh after arriving from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures A young Rohingya refugee gathers firewood after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya refugees wait for sacks of rice to be distributed in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees arrive on a boat in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh after crossing from Burma on 8 September Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees react after being re-united with each other after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh on a boat from Burma Getty Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees walk along the remains of a road after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh on a boat from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees wade through water after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh by boat from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees wade through water after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh by boat from Myanmar Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Rohingya Muslim refugees stand in the rain after arriving in Whaikhyang, Bangladesh by boat from Burma Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Rohingya refugees – in pictures Indian children hold placards and shout slogans during a protest against the alleged persecution of the Rohingya Muslims in Burma EPA/Raminder Pal Singh Rohingya refugees – in pictures Supporters of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC), an Islamic organisation, listen to their leaders' speeches against Burma's persecution of Rohingya Muslims, during a demonstration in Karachi Reuters/Akhtar Soomro Rohingya refugees – in pictures Hundreds of Iranians take part in a protest against violence in Myanmar after weekly Friday prayers, in Tehran EPA/Abedin Taherkenareh Rohingya refugees – in pictures Indonesian Muslim activists hold placards and shout slogans during a protest against the alleged persecution of the Rohingya minority in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia EPA/Ali Lutfi Rohingya refugees – in pictures Members of an Islamic organisation shout slogans against the Burma government during a protest in Dhaka, Bangladesh EPA

The UN has called the current violence against the Muslim Rohingya minority in the Buddhist country “a textbook example of genocide”.

An estimated 600,000 Rohingya have been forced to flee horrific violence and the burning of their villages to neighbouring Bangladesh – but Ms Suu Kyi has dismissed claims of ethnic cleansing and called the multiple accounts of sexual violence used against Rohingya women “fake rape.”