Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi became the first person to be stripped of honorary Canadian citizenship on Tuesday over her refusal to call out what one Canadian Senator called "genocide" by her nation's military against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

The move was made official after Canada's Senate voted to revoke the symbolic honor, which was granted to Suu Kyi in 2007.

The lower house had already approved a motion to the same effect last week.

The leader had been under fire for refusing to call on the country's army to put an end to the military campaign against the Rohingya in the western state of Rakhine, which the UN has described as a "textbook example" of ethnic cleansing.

The government of Myanmar says the campaign targets Rohingya militants, who have led attacks against security forces.

The instability has caused an exodus of refugees from the stateless Muslim minority, creating a humanitarian crisis in Southeast Asia.

(With inputs from AFP and Xinhua News Agency)

(Cover: File photo of Aung San Suu Kyi./VCG Photo)