Bangladesh has strongly criticised Myanmar’s recent submissions to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the genocide case filed by The Gambia, accusing Naypyidaw of deliberately misrepresenting the Rohingya as “Bengalis” to justify past atrocities and evade accountability.
In a press release issued on Thursday (23 January), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Bangladesh “takes serious exception” to Myanmar’s attempt to portray the Rohingya as “illegal migrants” and “internal security threats,” and to frame the 2016–17 military operations in Rakhine State as counter-terrorism measures.
Dhaka said such claims were aimed at diverting international attention from atrocity crimes committed against the Rohingya population.
The case was filed at the ICJ—also known as the World Court—in 2019 by The Gambia, a predominantly Muslim West African nation, accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against the Rohingya, a mainly Muslim minority in western Rakhine State.
Bangladesh reiterated that the Rohingya are a distinct ethnic group with deep historical, cultural and social roots in Arakan, now Rakhine State, predating modern borders. Their presence, the statement said, is well documented in historical records, colonial-era accounts and independent scholarship, making claims of recent migration historically inaccurate.
The government noted that the Rohingya were active participants in Myanmar’s political and social life until the enactment of the 1982 Citizenship Law, which excluded them on ethno-religious grounds. Despite long-standing marginalisation, the community retained voting rights until being fully disenfranchised ahead of Myanmar’s 2015 general elections.
“The systematic effort to call the Rohingya as ‘Bengalis’ is a denial of their inherent right to self-identify and a means to justify their exclusion, persecution and eventual ethnic cleansing during the 2016–17 period,” the statement said.
It added that labelling the Rohingya as “Bengali” has been part of a broader campaign to deny them fundamental rights, including citizenship and basic human rights, despite the community being recognised as “lawful residents of Burma” under the 1978 bilateral repatriation agreement with Bangladesh.
“Regardless of nomenclature, these lawful residents belonging to the Rohingya community were assured integration into Myanmar society as equal members in subsequent bilateral agreements,” the statement said.
Bangladesh also rejected Myanmar’s earlier claim that around half a million Bangladeshis took refuge in Rakhine during the 1971 Liberation War, calling the assertion unsubstantiated and unsupported by demographic evidence.
Dhaka said Myanmar’s continued failure for more than eight years to create a conducive environment in Rakhine and facilitate the safe and voluntary return of the Rohingya constitutes a clear violation of bilateral agreements signed in 2017–18.
Calling on Myanmar and “others having authority over Rakhine,” the government urged a genuine commitment to recognising the Rohingya as an integral part of Myanmar’s society and state, and to ensuring their reintegration with equal rights, safety and dignity.
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