ICJ Hears Rohingya Genocide, West Remembers Where Myanmar Is
The New Arab reports the ICJ is hearing The Gambia's case accusing Myanmar of breaching the 1948 Genocide Convention. This comes six years after the military junta unleashed a horrifying crackdown in 2017, branding the Rohingya as illegal immigrants and systematically displacing, raping, and killing them. (Remember when the world called it 'violence'? How many bodies does it take to spell
'genocide'?). While the ICJ slowly grinds, it’s worth noting the speed at which similar words like 'genocide' and 'destruction' have or haven’t been applied to other ongoing conflicts. One might wonder if the condemnation correlates more with geopolitical interests and less with the actual body count. Where was this level of urgent media attention and international legal pressure when the fires
were still burning and the boats still fleeing across every major news channel?