THE HAGUE - Rohingya who survived the 2017 military operations in Myanmar said on Friday they expect the United Nations' top judicial body, the International Court of Justice, to conclude that acts of genocide were committed against their community.
The court conducted three weeks of hearings in The Hague - also referred to as the World Court - and a ruling is anticipated in three to six months. Observers and participants say the outcome may extend beyond Myanmar, with potential repercussions for other cases before the court, including South Africa's genocide case against Israel linked to the war in Gaza.
The case and final submissions
The proceedings were brought by Gambia, a country described as mainly Muslim, which argued in its final submissions that Myanmar's conduct leaves only one reasonable conclusion: an intent to destroy the Rohingya as a group. Gambia's legal team urged the court to find that the actions met the legal threshold for genocide.
Myanmar has consistently rejected allegations of genocide. Its legal representatives maintained at the ICJ that the 2017 offensive - which forced at least 730,000 Rohingya to flee their homes for neighbouring Bangladesh - was a legitimate counterterrorism operation rather than an effort to destroy the group.
Voices of survivors and findings cited
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of survivors of mass atrocities, Yousuf Ali, a 52-year-old Rohingya refugee who said he was subjected to torture by the Myanmar military, expressed confidence that the court would recognise genocide. He said:
"The world has witnessed us suffering for so many years (... ) how we were deported, how our homes were destroyed and we were killed,"
A United Nations fact-finding mission earlier concluded that the 2017 offensive included "genocidal acts," and survivors provided testimony detailing killings, mass rape and arson during the campaign.
At the ICJ, Myanmar's lawyers challenged the credibility and impartiality of that fact-finding mission, arguing that its conclusions did not meet the evidentiary standard required for a legal finding of genocide.
Gambia's Justice Minister Dawda Jallow asked the court to dismiss those challenges and argued that a judgment declaring genocide would contribute to breaking Myanmar's "cycle of atrocities and impunities" by holding the state accountable through the court's ruling.
Broader implications
Participants noted that the court's ruling will carry consequences beyond the immediate parties, potentially influencing other international litigation and diplomatic responses tied to allegations of genocide. Until the court issues its decision, the precise legal and political outcomes remain subject to the judgment delivered in the coming months.