The United Nations’ top court at The Hague has begun hearings on whether Myanmar committed genocide against the Rohingya ethnic minority. Gambia told judges on Monday that Myanmar targeted minority Muslim Rohingya for destruction and made their lives a nightmare in a landmark case.
Myanmar, now under military rule, denies all allegations.
It is the first genocide case the International Court of Justice is hearing in full in more than a decade.
West African nation Gambia filed the case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2019, claiming that Myanmar’s military “clearance operations” in 2017 violated the 1948 Genocide Convention.
In his opening statement, Gambian Justice Minister Dawda Jallow said his country had taken the case out of a “sense of responsibility” based on its own experience with military rule.
“Wherever and whenever oppression or crimes against individuals and groups occur, we must raise our moral voice in condemnation,” he told a packed courtroom.
"Myanmar has denied them their dream, in fact it turned their lives into a nightmare subjecting them to the most horrific violence and destruction one could imagine."
Myanmar's armed forces launched an offensive in 2017 that forced at least 730,000 Rohingya from their homes and into neighbouring Bangladesh, where they recounted killings, mass rape and arson.
A UN fact-finding mission concluded the 2017 military offensive had included "genocidal acts".
Myanmar authorities rejected that report, saying its military offensive was a legitimate counter-terrorism campaign in response to attacks by Muslim militants.
Today, around 1.2 million Rohingya live in overcrowded camps, where armed groups recruit children, and girls as young as 12 are forced into prostitution.
Severe cuts to foreign aid under U.S. President Donald Trump last year led to the closure of thousands of camp schools, leaving some children to starve.
“We don’t have anything that human beings should have,” said Yousuf Ali, who travelled from a refugee camp in Bangladesh to attend the hearings in the Netherlands.
Myanmar was initially represented by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who denied that the country’s armed forces committed genocide. In 2019, she described the mass exodus of Rohingya as the “unfortunate outcome” of fighting insurgents. Suu Kyi is now in prison following a military coup in 2021.
Myanmar contested the court’s jurisdiction, arguing that Gambia was not directly involved in the conflict. Judges rejected this in 2022, allowing the case to proceed.
The ruling opened the door for South Africa to file a case accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies.
Experts say the ICJ’s decision on Myanmar could also influence other international proceedings, including the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where the chief prosecutor in 2024 requested an arrest warrant for Myanmar’s military chief Min Aung Hlaing.
At least 25 members of Mexico's National Guard have died during a wave of violence in the state of Jalisco after the killing of a drug lord, the count...
The European Parliament on Monday (23 February) postponed a vote on the EU’s trade deal with the U.S. after President Donald Trump imposed a blanket...
Central Asia’s population could reach 96 million by 2040, according to the head of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), highlighting both the region...
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Monday discussed transport links, infrastructure projects and broader economic cooperation with a high-level Ira...
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has written to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to say he would back any UK government plan to remove An...
Central Asia’s population could reach 96 million by 2040, according to the head of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), highlighting both the region’s economic potential and the growing strain on infrastructure, trade routes and long-term development models.
A British national was among at least 19 people killed when a passenger bus plunged off a mountain highway into the Trishuli river in Nepal before dawn on Monday (23 February), authorities said. A New Zealander and a Chinese national were among those injured.
Against a backdrop of mounting environmental pressure across Central Asia, the Kazakh Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources has announced that the Regional Ecological Summit (RES) 2026 will take place from 22–24 April in Astana.
Iran has signed a secret €500 million arms deal with Russia to rebuild air defences, weakened during last year’s war with Israel, the Financial Times has reported. The agreement, signed in December in Moscow, will see Russia deliver 500 Verba launch units and 2,500 9M336 missiles over three years.
A seven-month-old Japanese macaque has drawn international attention after forming an unusual bond with a stuffed orangutan toy after being rejected by its mother.
Divers have recovered the bodies of seven Chinese tourists and a Russian driver after their minibus broke through the ice of on Lake Baikal in Russia, authorities said.
Pakistan said it carried out cross-border strikes on militant targets inside Afghanistan after blaming a series of recent suicide bombings, including attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, on fighters it said were operating from Afghan territory.
President Donald Trump said on Saturday (21 February) that he will raise temporary tariffs on nearly all U.S. imports from 10% to 15%, the maximum allowed under the law, after the Supreme Court struck down his previous tariff program.
Iran announced on Saturday (21 February) that it has designated the naval and air forces of European Union member states as “terrorist entities” in a reciprocal move after the EU blacklisted the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
At least 25 members of Mexico's National Guard have died during a wave of violence in the state of Jalisco after the killing of a drug lord, the country's security minister has said.
The European Parliament on Monday (23 February) postponed a vote on the EU’s trade deal with the U.S. after President Donald Trump imposed a blanket 15% import duty.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has written to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to say he would back any UK government plan to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession, a statement shared by Starmer's office said.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency will halt the collection of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act on Tuesday (24 February), more than three days after the U.S. Supreme Court declared the duties unlawful.
The U.S. ambassador to Portugal has urged Lisbon to replace its ageing F-16 fighter jets with Lockheed Martin’s F-35, saying the stealth aircraft would ensure compatibility with Europe’s top-tier air forces.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment