Rohingya Muslims gather in The Hague, demand justice

Rohingya Muslims in The Hague, Netherlands, gathered on Wednesday in protest against Myanmar and the junta regime as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) resumed hearing of the Rohingya genocide case.

The top UN court on Monday resumed the hearing of the case against Myanmar in The Hague where the junta regime represented the Southeast Asian nation.

Myanmar, which is accused of committing genocide of the Rohingya community, presented its objections before the judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The ICJ has been hearing the case brought by Gambia in November 2019, accusing Myanmar of violating the Genocide Convention in its brutal crackdown on the Rohingya community.

However, following a deadly military coup in Myanmar last year in February, activists have expressed concern whether the ICJ hearing the junta regime would grant it any legitimacy.

Until Feb. 27, for four days, the ICJ judges will hear the junta’s objections to the jurisdiction of the court.

Presiding judge Joan Donoghue told the court that the parties in cases before the court “are states, not particular governments.”

Tens of thousands of Rohingya were killed and thousands of women and girls were raped when Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in Rakhine state in August 2017.

More than 1.2 million Rohingya, described by the UN as the world’s most persecuted people, were forced to flee Myanmar and continue to live in refugee camps in Bangladesh.