Complicity in Rohingya genocide cannot go unpunished
The Rohingya are a minority ethnic group from Myanmar who have long been denied their right to citizenship and fundamental human rights. Several episodes of atrocities have been inflicted upon them since the 1962 military coup in Myanmar, which forced them to flee their land of origin frequently ever since.
Subsequently, in August 2017, the Myanmar military launched massive violence against the Rohingya, resulting in the deportation of over 700,000 people of the community. They eventually sought refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh. Since then, they have been trapped in a political dilemma in exile.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Cox's Bazar Rohingya refugee camp, known as the world's largest refugee camp, is home to one million-plus Rohingya refugees. Some of them fled Myanmar during the outbreaks of violence before the August 2017 onslaught that has been classified as a genocide and termed as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing, according to the United Nations.
The Rohingya have desperately been undergoing a surreal struggle for justice and the restoration of their citizenship for decades. Their case has been filed in three international courts—UN International Court of Justice, International Criminal Court and an Argentinean federal criminal court—and the Rohingya remain optimistic, resiliently waiting for justice and the courts' decision to hold the perpetrators accountable.
On February 13, 2025, the Argentinean court issued an arrest warrant under universal jurisdiction for 25 people, including General Min Aung Hlaing, the chief of the military, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace laureate, 1991 and former state counsellor, and U Htin Kyaw, former president of Myanmar, for their collective complicity in committing the genocide against the Rohingya in August 2017.
After a long overdue wait for justice, this declaration of an international arrest warrant for the perpetrators of the genocide is a remarkable move towards justice and accountability for the Rohingya.
"This brings a ray of hope to Rohingya who have suffered through decades of genocide, watching their families and culture be destroyed with impunity. It is also a victory for international justice at a time of growing violations of international law worldwide," Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK), described in their press release on the issuance of the arrest warrant.
Soon after the issuance of the arrest warrant, on February 18, 2025, the National Unity Government (NUG) released a statement urging the Argentinean court to remove the names of Suu Kyi and Htin Kyaw, particularly, from the prosecution.
It's quite appalling to see the NUG struggling to defend alleged genociders Aung San Su Kyi and U Htin Kyaw, and trying to argue that the they were not complicit in the genocide against the Rohingya in August 2017.
On February 19, 2025, U Ne Bone Lat, the NUG chief minister's office spokesperson, told the Yangon-based media outlet Khit Thit Media that the NUG would use all protocols to revoke former State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from being included in the arrest warrant issued by the Argentinean court.
Moreover, the NUG has been silent during the atrocious crimes committed against the Rohingya by the Arakan Army, similar to the atrocities committed by the military against the Rohingya back in 2017. This clearly demonstrates the NUG's concerns towards the Rohingya.
Although Aung Kyaw Moe, a Rohingya, is NUG' deputy human rights minister, it does not ensure that the NUG recognised the Rohingya as an indigenous ethnic group of Myanmar.
The recent statement released by the NUG shows their true face and that they have been playing a political game with the Rohingya. The inclusion of Aung Kyaw Moe in NUG is a mere strategy to gain international legitimacy.
Aung San Su Kyi rejected allegations of Rohingya genocide at the International Court of Justice in 2019. This clearly shows her role in providing the political cover in executing this genocide.
"Aung San Suu Kyi is not only defending the military and the military's actions against ethnic nationalities, but she is also defending herself. She is potentially criminally liable for international crimes against the Rohingya. At this point, I think a lot of her denials about the realities on the ground are, at least to a certain extent, rooted in that," Matthew Smith, chief executive officer of Fortify Rights, told BBC in an interview back in late 2019.
In NUG's statement, they welcomed the efforts of the Argentinean court to punish the perpetrators, but they referred to the genocide committed against the Rohingya as mass atrocities, indirectly saying that it was not a genocide.
The international community now sees the other side of the NUG and Aung San Suu Kyi. Nobel Peace Laureate Suu Kyi, known as the mother of democracy in Myanmar, does not support recognition of the Rohingya's right to citizenship. Those envisioning a federally democratic, inclusive and equitable Myanmar should stop defending Suu Kyi. She deserves nothing more than criticism for her role in the Rohingya crisis. As an internationally wanted criminal, she should face justice.
Sirajul Islam is a Rohingya poet, writer, and human rights activist, currently based in a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. He has internationally published two collections of poetry and is now working on his third collection.
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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