Rohingya Crisis and International Law: The Gambia v. Myanmar Before the International Court of Justice

The Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, have been systematically persecuted in their home country for decades, with the 1982 Citizenship Act making it legal for the Myanmar government to do so. This has left more than a million Rohingya without a nation to call their own. This chapter looks at how exclusionary state policies and violence have continued from earlier regimes to the current military junta in Myanmar, leading to a large-scale displacement of people across South and Southeast Asia. By placing these actions within the politics of denial, this chapter analyses how the Myanmar government’s refusal to recognise Rohingya identity and assume responsibility for mass atrocity crimes has impacted not only domestic policy but also the response of other nations. This chapter critically analyses the ongoing case of The Gambia v. Myanmar, submitted before the International Court of Justice on November 11, 2019, invoking the Genocide Convention of 1948 and facilitated by Article 41 of the ICJ Statute and Rules 73 to 75 of the Court. This chapter makes use of doctrinal methodology and primary text analysis to contend that this ongoing case reinforces jus cogens obligations under the International Legal framework and enhances the mechanisms available for holding states accountable.