Rohingya genocide case: Myanmar begins defence at ICJ

Myanmar has denied committing genocide against the Ronhingya people, saying The Gambia has failed to provide enough proof, as it begun its defence at the UN’s top court.

Ko Ko Hlaing, a Myanmar government representative, told judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that the allegation was “unsubstantiated”.

Earlier this week, The Gambia’s foreign minister Dawda Jallow told the court Myanmar wanted to erase the minority Muslim population through its use of “genocidal policies”.

Thousands of Rohingya were killed and more than 700,000 fled to neighbouring Bangladesh during an army crackdown in Myanmar in 2017.

A damning report issued by the UN the following year said top military figures in Myanmar must be investigated for genocide in Rakhine state and crimes against humanity in other areas.

Myanmar – which has been under military control since it overthrew the civilian government in 2021 – rejected the report and has consistently said its operations targeted militant or insurgent threats.

On Friday, Hlaning told the ICJ that “Myanmar was not obliged to remain idle and allow terrorists to have free reign of northern Rakhine states”, where the majority of Rohingya lived.

“These attacks were the reasons for the clearance operations, which is a military term referring to counter-insurgency or counter-terrorism operations,” Hlaing said.

The Gambia launched its case against Myanmar in 2019, with Jallow telling the ICJ it did so out of a “sense of responsibility” following its own experience with a military government.

Jallow told the court on Monday that the Rohingya “had suffered decades of appalling persecution and years of dehumanising propaganda”, which was followed by the military crackdown and “continual genocidal policies meant to erase their existence in Myanmar”.

Lawyers for the Muslim-majority West African country also argued that the killing of women, children and the elderly, along with the destruction of their villages, was hard to justify under combatting terrorism.

“When the court considers… all of the evidence taken together, the only reasonable conclusion to reach is that a genocidal intent permeated and informed Myanmar’s myriad of state-led actions against the Rohingya,” said Philippe Sands, arguing for The Gambia, which has the backing of 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in its action.

More than a million Rohingya refugees now live across the border in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar region alone – some of the largest and most densely populated camps in the world, according to the UN’s refugee agency.

Hlaing – the Myanmar government representative – said on Friday that it was committed to “achieving the repatriation to Myanmar of persons from Rakhine State currently living in camps in Bangladesh”. But he also said external forces, such as Covid-19, had hampered those efforts.

“Myanmar’s commitment and constant efforts since 2017 contradict Gambia’s narrative that Myanmar’s intention is to destroy or forcibly deport this population,” Hlaing told the court.

He added that “a finding of genocide would place an indelible stain on my country and its people”, so the outcome was of “fundamental importance for my country’s reputation and future”.

The court has also set aside three days to hear from witnesses, including Rohingya survivors, but these sessions will be closed to the public and media.

A final ruling is expected towards the end of 2026, Reuters news agency reported.

It is expected to set a precedent in other genocide cases, including one brought by South Africa against Israel over the war in Gaza, as it is the first to be heard in more than a decade – and is being seen as an opportunity for ICJ judges to refine rules around the definition of genocide.

The 1948 UN Genocide Convention, which The Gambia accuses Myanmar of breaching in its treatment of the Rohingya, was adopted following the mass murder of Jews by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. It defines genocide as crimes committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.