July 23, 2022

The European Rohingya Council (ERC) welcomes the ICJ’s (the International Court of Justice) unanimous decision to reject all four preliminary objections of Myanmar to the Court´s jurisdiction on the case filed by the Gambia against Myanmar for the Rohingya genocide.

The Court’s affirmation that the Gambia as a State Party to the Genocide Convention has the right to hold Myanmar accountable to its obligations under Convention, is a step forward to justice and accountability that the survivors of Rohingya genocide have long demanded for.

The European Rohingya Council has always been in confident of  the outcome because the merits of this case are clear and obvious. The ERC expresses our gratitude to the ICJ, the Gambia and all other parties involved in this case in supports of the persecuted Rohingya community.

The Myanmar Military regime which now takes over the legal team from Aung San Suu Kyi following the coup in 2021, has failed in its attempt to reject the case or delay the court proceedings while it continues the atrocities and genocidal policies on the ground in Arakan State where the remaining half-a-million Rohingya are rendered into a state of uncertainty, and over a million Rohingya linger in refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh without hope of returning to the country of birth until the perpetrators of the genocide are taken into account for the crimes of genocide.

Despite the ICJ’s January 23, 2020 measures on Myanmar to protect the Rohingya population from any further atrocities, the genocide is ongoing with full impunity led by the coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

It has been more than four years since nearly a million Rohingya fled the genocide in Myanmar, it is vital that the ICJ proceeds the merit-phase of the case without further delay. It is the same call of the Rohingya survivors of the Myanmar Genocide – “justice delayed is justice denied”.

Dr. Ambia Parveen
Chairperson
The European Rohingya Council (ERC)
[email protected]

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