OXFORD City Council will formally vote to strip Aung San Suu Kyi of the Freedom of Oxford at a meeting next Monday.

Myanmar's de facto leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, she has faced criticism over her handling of a crisis which has seen an estimated 400,000 members of the Rohingya minority flee the country after violence allegedly start by its military.

The council's cross-party motion has been submitted by the Labour Party's Councillor Mary Clarkson.

It has been supported by the Liberal Democrats' leader, Councillor Andrew Gant, and the Green Party's leader, Councillor David Thomas.

Councillor Clarkson's motion states: "This council believes the residents of Oxford are deeply concerned about the dreadful attacks on the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar (Burma) and the flight of refugees into Bangladesh.

"The City Council has written to Aung San Suu Kyi, the State Counsellor of Myanmar, to ask her to speak out and to do whatever she can to stop the ethnic cleansing in her country.

"It was right to give the Freedom of the City to Aung Suu Kyi in 1997 in recognition of her long struggle for democracy and her personal links to Oxford.

"However, in the absence of a helpful response from her and with deep regret, council believes it is no longer appropriate for Aung San Suu Kyi to hold the Freedom of the City."

Aung San Suu Kyi has close links to Oxford. She attended St Hugh's College between 1964 and 1967, where she graduated with a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Her husband was the Oxford University academic Michael Aris. He died in the city in 1999 while she was part-way through 15 years of house arrest. She was released in 2010.

The vote to remove the title will be held at Oxford Town Hall at 5pm.