Case filed by Gambia concerns military crackdown that forced over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to flee to Bangladesh
President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Yuji Iwasawa (C) and members issue first Advisory Opinion (AO) on States’ legal obligations to address climate change, in The Hague on July 23, 2025. Photo: AFP
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) would deliver its judgment on November 19 on whether Myanmar violated the UN Genocide Convention in its treatment of the Rohingya Muslim minority, the court announced on Tuesday.
The ruling is scheduled for 10am local time in The Hague, Netherlands, in a case brought by Gambia in 2019, with 11 states intervening in the proceedings.
The lawsuit accuses Myanmar of violating its obligations under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide during military operations against the Rohingya.
Read: ICJ urged to make Rohingya genocide report public
Gambia’s decision to bring the case before the UN’s highest court was hailed as a “historic achievement” by members of the Rohingya community.
The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority who have faced decades of discrimination and displacement in Myanmar.
Read More: Rohingya tell UN of Myanmar bloodshed, suffering
More than 700,000 fled the country’s Rakhine State following a military crackdown in August 2017, with most seeking refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh.
The UN has described the Rohingya as the world’s most persecuted minority, while a report by the Ontario International Development Agency estimated that thousands were killed by Myanmar’s security forces.
