Anniversary of the genocide of the Rohingya (August 25)

On the occasion of the 7th anniversary of the genocide of the Rohingya (August 25, 2017), the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) demanded more effective interventions by the international community and the German Federal Government to stop the escalating violence against the Rohingya and other ethnic minorities in Myanmar. “The genocide crimes against the Rohingya continue. In their homeland, Rakhine State, the Rohingya are still caught in a crossfire between the Myanmar military and the insurgent Arakan Army. Both sides are committing crimes against humanity,” stated Jasna Causevic, STP expert on genocide prevention and the Responsibility to Protect.

Thousands of Rohingya people are currently on the run due to the attacks by Myanmar – but they are even targeted while on the run. There are reports about massacres and rape. “Following the military coup in 2021, the tragedy of the Rohingya reached apocalyptic proportions. Still, the United Nations, the EU, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) did not manage to find an effective response to prevent the continuation of the genocide.”

“We are appealing to the German Federal Government to urge the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court in order to put an end to military impunity,” Causevic demanded. “The evidence of the military’s crimes against the Rohingya and other minority groups in Myanmar is overwhelming. Until today, no one has been held accountable for the genocide crimes against the Rohingya or the atrocities committed against other ethnic groups in the country.” The current investigations by the ICC focus exclusively on crimes that were committed in Bangladesh, as Myanmar is not a party to the Rome Statute and refuses to cooperate with the ICC. “The German Federal Government must try to ensure that the investigations are expanded and that the current acts of violence are taken into account as well,” Causevic demanded.

“What is especially alarming is the increase in violence against children. Those who are responsible for these war crimes must be held accountable,” Causevic said. All in all, the United Nations registered 2,800 serious human rights violations against minors in Myanmar last year. Also, the military is recruiting more and more minors. More than 1,000 cases are listed in the current report of the UN Secretary General on children in armed conflicts. “We are calling on the German Federal Government to intensify its efforts regarding the protection of children. As a first step, the German government should provide an up-to-date statement on violence against children in Myanmar,” Causevic added. 

In 2016 and 2017, the Myanmar army repeatedly attacked Rohingya people in Rakhine State, killing thousands and forcing more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh. According to a report by the UN Refugee Agency, there are almost one million Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh at the moment. In total, around 1.3 million people have fled from Myanmar to neighboring countries. In 2019, Gambia initiated a genocide case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is still ongoing. The German Federal Government joined this genocide process in 2023. In 2018, the ICC initiated an investigation.