The United Kingdom has asked Myanmar to comply with the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) decision on provisional measures to protect Rohingyas.
British Minister for Asia and Pacific Heather Wheeler welcomed the decision in a statement and said the Court was clear that “Myanmar must do more to protect the Rohingya”.
“The Independent Commission of Enquiry’s admission of atrocities and its recommendations are an important first step towards meaningful domestic accountability, though we don’t agree with much of the Commission’s analysis.
“We encourage the Government of Myanmar to comply with the provisional measures, which are legally-binding, and implement the Commission’s recommendations,” read the statement.
Bangladesh earlier reacted to the ICJ’s rule against Myanmar terming the ICJ rule as a ‘victory for humanity’.
Foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said it is “a victory for humanity, a milestone for human rights activists across all nations. This is also a victory for Gambia, OIC, Rohingya and of course, for Bangladesh. God bless humanity and also the 'mother of humanity' Sheikh Hasina.'”
The World Court, the ICJ accepted all four provisional measure request in an unanimous (all 15 judges) verdict on January 23 and asked Myanmar to submit a report within four months confirming measures taken. After that report, Myanmar was asked to report every six months.
The Court used the term 'Rohingya' and also rejected Myanmar’s claim that Bangladesh is not cooperating in repatriation process. The court also asked Myanmar to stop genocide and atrocities against Rohingyas.
Gambia, the mainly Muslim West African country filed the suit in November, alleging Myanmar was committing ‘an ongoing genocide’ against its minority Muslim Rohingya population.
The lawsuit followed a massive exodus of Rohingya people to Bangladesh following an August 2017 military crackdown that the United Nations described as a ‘textbook example of ethnic cleansing’. International rights group called it ‘genocide’.
Gambia in the case accused Myanmar of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention in a military campaign that expelled more than 730,000 Rohingya from the country.
