IT MAY take months. It may even take years. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is hearing a case about how Myanmar is treating the Rohingya people – but the process could be a very slow road to justice.
The case was brought to the ICJ by Gambia – back in 2019. At a session on 12th January, Gambia’s Foreign Minister Dawda Jallow told the Court that Myanmar is trying to destroy the Rohingya people – who are Muslims. Jallow likened Myanmar’s actions to genocide.
A representative of the Myanmar Government, Ko Ko Hlaing, told the ICJ there was no evidence to support the charges and that army action was a counter-terrorist operation. Despite the official denial, the evidence is there. Nearly three quarter of a million Rohingyas have fled the homes in Myanmar and sought safety in Bangladesh since the Mayanmar army began its latest round of persecution and murder.
The refugees have spoken about what the Mayanmar army is doing, to the extent that a UN report in 2018 said that the army must be investigated for crimes against humanity and genocide. As the army runs the Government, having overthrown the civilian Government in 2021, this is tantamount to saying that the Government should be investigated.
Welcome thought the ICJ hearing is, it does show very clearly that international institutions are impotent talking shops, unable to protect people who are being exploited. It will bring a small amount of publicity to what is going on in Myanmar – a genocide so little noticed that even Donald Trump hasn’t added it to his list of wars he thinks he has stopped.
More than one million Rohingya refugees are living in the Cox’s Bazar area of Bangladesh. If the coming elections result in a stable government, perhaps Bangladesh can take up the cause of the Rohingya. At the very least, Bangladesh should be asking for the UN to support the refugees financially, and other countries should be supporting any such request. Sadly, it doesn’t look as if any international institution – even the ICJ – has the will or the power to stop Myanmar’s genocide any time soon.
●Read more about it: MPF calls for Rohingya aid after Cox’s Bazar fire Women hold Iftar for Rohingya