The Worldwide Court docket of Justice is deciding if Myanmar dedicated genocide in opposition to the Rohingya in 2017 navy crackdown.
Printed On 14 Jan 2026
A world courtroom case accusing Myanmar of committing genocide in opposition to its largely Muslim Rohingya minority is “flawed and unfounded”, the nation’s Ministry of International Affairs says.
In an announcement printed by state media on Wednesday, Myanmar’s navy authorities hit out on the genocide case, which has been dropped at the Worldwide Court docket of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, by The Gambia.
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“The allegations made by The Gambia are flawed and unfounded the truth is and regulation,” the International Ministry stated.
“Biased reviews, primarily based on unreliable proof, can’t make up for fact,” it stated.
Myanmar’s navy rulers, who seized energy in 2021, are cooperating with the ICJ case “in good religion” in an indication of respect for worldwide regulation, the assertion added.
The Gambia filed the case in opposition to Myanmar on the ICJ, often known as the World Court docket, in 2019, two years after the nation’s navy launched an offensive that pressured about 750,000 Rohingya from their houses, largely into neighbouring Bangladesh.
Survivors of the navy operation recounted mass killings, rapes and arson assaults. At present, about 1.17 million Rohingya reside crammed into dilapidated refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.
On the opening day of the trial on Monday, Gambian Justice Minister Dawda Jallow instructed the courtroom the Rohingya “have been focused for destruction” in Myanmar.
Legal professionals for military-ruled Myanmar will start their courtroom response on Friday.
Included ‘genocidal acts’
The trial is the primary genocide case the ICJ has taken up in full in additional than a decade, and its consequence may have repercussions past Myanmar, possible affecting South Africa’s petition against Israel over its genocidal battle in Gaza. The hearings will span three weeks.
The human rights chief of the United Nations on the time of the crackdown in Myanmar referred to as it a “textbook instance of ethnic cleaning”, and a UN fact-finding mission concluded that the navy’s 2017 offensive had included “genocidal acts”. However authorities in Myanmar rejected the report, claiming its navy offensive was a professional counterterrorism marketing campaign in response to assaults by Rohingya armed teams.
Wednesday’s assertion by Myanmar’s International Ministry didn’t use the phrase Rohingya, as a substitute referring to “individuals from Rakhine state”.
The Rohingya are usually not recognised as an official minority in Myanmar, which denies them citizenship regardless of many having roots within the nation stretching again centuries.
A remaining resolution within the Rohingya genocide case might take months and even years, and whereas the ICJ has no technique of imposing its selections, a ruling in favour of The Gambia would possible place extra political strain on Myanmar.
The Southeast Asian nation is at the moment holding phased elections which have been criticised by the UN, some Western nations and human rights teams as neither free nor truthful.
