Myanmar's Rohingya Population: The Case for Genocide

The United Nations (UN) has consistently characterized the Rohingya Muslims as the world’s most persecuted population. Significantly, prior to the military coup on February 1, 2020, Myanmar represented itself as a burgeoning democracy on the path to reform. However, the human rights status of racial, religious, and ethnic minorities in legal, political, social, and economic context reveals the true character of any democracy. To that end, the plight of the Rohingya Muslims has long cast a pall on Burmese governance even prior to the most recent military coup. This analysis employs two international cases of historic significance that are currently pending against Myanmar as a lens to understanding how domestic political developments, such as ethnoreligious nationalism, and international events, such as September 11, 2001, contribute to the ongoing genocide against the Rohingya Muslim population. The first case, brought by the Republic of the Gambia against Myanmar in the U.N. International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleges that Myanmar violated the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention). The International Criminal Court (ICC) enjoys jurisdiction over the second case. It focuses on the unlawful deportation of approximately one million members of the stateless population from Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh during two waves of violence in 2016 and 2017. Both matters are noteworthy because of the gravitas of each tribunal - arguably the most important courts in the world. Additionally, they represent the very first formal efforts to hold Myanmar legally accountable for international crimes committed against the persecuted ethnoreligious community. Moreover, a critical legal analysis of the factual allegations underlying each controversy crystalizes the nature of, as well as the contributing factors to, official persecution of the world’s largest stateless population.