The New Humanitarian welcomes new CEO Ebele Okobi.

Find out more
  1. Home
  2. Asia

Roundup: Rohingya ICJ ruling steps up pressure on Myanmar

There’s a long road ahead, but attempts to examine genocide allegations are inching forward.

The Gambia's justice minister, Abubacarr Tambadou, talks to the media outside the International Court of Justice. Eva Plevier/REUTERS
The Gambia’s justice minister, Abubacarr Tambadou, talks to the media outside the International Court of Justice in The Hague on 23 January, following a ruling in its case against Myanmar alleging genocide against the Rohingya minority.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague this week ordered Myanmar to “take all measures within its power” to protect its Rohingya minority from genocide.

It’s the first time a global court has pronounced judgement against Myanmar for the 2017 military purge of more than 700,000 Rohingya from their homes in Rakhine State. 

Myanmar’s military is accused of massacring civilians, sexual violence, torture, and other abuses in a bid to force hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee. For years, authorities in Myanmar have stripped the Rohingya of citizenship and basic rights, and some 600,000 Rohingya still in Rakhine State live under apartheid-like restrictions.

Thursday’s ICJ order is an emergency injunction in a larger case, launched by The Gambia last year, that accuses Myanmar of violating the Genocide Convention. That case will likely take years, but rights groups see Thursday’s interim ruling – meant to prevent further violence and preserve evidence – as a significant step in pressuring Myanmar after years of global inaction.

The “decision sends a message to Myanmar’s senior officials: the world will not tolerate their atrocities, and will not blindly accept their empty rhetoric on the reality in Rakhine State today,” said Nicholas Bequelin, a regional director for Amnesty International.

The ICJ also ordered Myanmar to submit twice-yearly reports on what it’s doing to enact the ruling.

But it’s unclear what effect the ICJ order will have. Myanmar has largely denied most allegations levelled against its military, blocked UN investigators from setting foot in the country, restricted aid access in Rakhine, and refused to recognise the authority of the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor is pursuing a separate investigation into alleged deportation crimes.

Earlier, Myanmar released a summary of its own enquiry on the Rohingya crisis: it acknowledged that soldiers may have committed “war crimes” but denied any “genocidal intent” against the Rohingya. 

In an opinion piece published in the Financial Times before the ICJ ruling, Myanmar’s de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, suggested international investigations have relied on “inaccurate or exaggerated information”, and called “for domestic justice to run its course” instead. 

Khin Maung, director of the Rohingya Youth Association in Bangladesh’s refugee camps, called Myanmar’s denials “yet another whitewash of the crimes against us”.

Here’s a selection of our reporting that explores the roots of the Rohingya crisis, its ongoing impacts in both Myanmar and Bangladesh, and the long path toward investigating and prosecuting rights abuses:

A Bangladeshi man helps Rohingya Muslim refugees to disembark from a boat on the Bangladeshi shoreline of the Naf river after crossing the border from Myanmar in Teknaf on 30 September 2017.

What’s behind a flurry of legal bids to prosecute Myanmar for genocide?

Three legal bids, three courts, and three separate roads to examining Myanmar rights abuses.

Q&A: How a legal challenge on Rohingya deportation could redefine the bounds of international justice

A war crimes prosecutor uses a legal loophole to investigate anti-Rohingya violence.

In a Myanmar village, a bamboo fence separates Rohingya and Rakhine neighbours

‘It's better we don't live together’: Rohingya families live with apartheid-like restrictions, but economic ties still bind divided communities together.

ID cards and photos

Identity and belonging in a card: How tattered Rohingya IDs trace a trail toward statelessness

After fleeing Myanmar, refugees cling to old documents as proof they belong to a country that now rejects them.

Photo of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

Male rape survivors go uncounted in Rohingya camps

Men and boys are also survivors of sexual violence. But they’re largely overlooked during crises – including in Bangladesh’s refugee camps. 

Rohingya girls pass in front of a damaged shelter in a displacement camp outside Sittwe in Myanmar’s Rakhine State in August 2015.

Why Rohingya women and girls are risking dangerous smuggling routes

Years of rights abuses and restrictions, limits on education, and new safety threats are pushing more Rohingya women and children to risk perilous boat journeys.

Share this article

Get the day’s top headlines in your inbox every morning

Starting at just $5 a month, you can become a member of The New Humanitarian and receive our premium newsletter, DAWNS Digest.

DAWNS Digest has been the trusted essential morning read for global aid and foreign policy professionals for more than 10 years.

Government, media, global governance organisations, NGOs, academics, and more subscribe to DAWNS to receive the day’s top global headlines of news and analysis in their inboxes every weekday morning.

It’s the perfect way to start your day.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian today and you’ll automatically be subscribed to DAWNS Digest – free of charge.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join