Arakan News Agency
Rohingya survivors have expressed their expectation that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will rule that Myanmar committed genocide against them, following the conclusion of hearings at the court regarding the military campaign launched by Myanmar in 2017.
According to TBS News, a Rohingya refugee identified as Yousuf Ali, 52, said on the sidelines of a meeting of survivors of mass atrocities that he was confident the court would rule in their favor. “The world has witnessed our suffering for years — from displacement to the destruction of homes and killings,” he said.
Judges are expected to take several months to issue a ruling, as the ICJ typically delivers judgments within six to nine months after the conclusion of final arguments.
The case, brought by The Gambia, has drawn wide international attention due to its potential legal implications beyond Myanmar, particularly for other genocide cases currently before the court, including South Africa’s case against Israel over the war in Gaza.
In its final submissions, The Gambia argued that Myanmar’s conduct during the military campaign demonstrated clear intent to destroy the Rohingya as a group, asserting that genocide was the only possible legal conclusion.
Myanmar, for its part, has rejected the allegations, saying its military operations in Arakan State were a legitimate response to attacks by armed groups. It denied any intent to commit genocide and questioned the findings of previous international investigations.
During the 2017 campaign, at least 730,000 Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh in the largest displacement the region has seen. A United Nations fact-finding mission later concluded that the events included killings, mass rape, and widespread arson amounting to acts of genocide.
Gambia’s Justice Minister, Dawda Jallow, urged the court to dismiss Myanmar’s arguments, saying that a ruling finding genocide would help put an end to what he described as Myanmar’s “cycle of atrocities and impunity.”
Recently, the International Court of Justice in The Hague began hearing the landmark case filed by The Gambia against Myanmar, accusing the country’s leadership of deliberately attempting to annihilate the Rohingya during the military crackdown carried out in 2017.
The Gambia first submitted the case in November 2019, accusing Myanmar of violating the Genocide Convention. In 2018, a UN Human Rights Council–mandated investigative mission found reasonable grounds to conclude that serious crimes under international law had been committed, including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
The Gambia has received support in its pursuit of justice from 57 member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as well as 11 other countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Canada.
