Yangon - Myanmar on Friday said the International Criminal
Court does not have jurisdiction to investigate the exodus of
hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar to
Bangladesh.
The ICC on Thursday ruled it had jurisdiction over "the crime against
humanity of deportation allegedly committed against members of the
Rohingya people," according to a statement, paving the way for
Myanmar leaders to be tried in The Hague.
"Myanmar absolutely rejects the decision which is the result of
faulty procedure and is of dubious legal merit," read a statement
released by the president's office on Friday.
Myanmar argued that it was not party to the Rome Statute, which
established the ICC. The ruling "created a dangerous precedent and
erodes the moral authority of the court," Myanmar said.
The fact that the case involves a border crossing from one state not
adherent to the court, Myanmar, to one that does, Bangladesh,
justified the court's decision, the ICC said.
More than 700,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya have fled their homes into
Bangladesh since August last year, bringing with them accounts of
rape, arson and killings by Myanmar security forces.
Earlier this month the UN said the grievous human rights abuses by
security forces could amount to genocide and urged prosecution of
Myanmar by the ICC.
Rohingya Muslims, an ethnic minority group in Buddhist-majority
Myanmar, were stripped of citizenship in 1982 and have been long
subject to persecution in Rakhine state, where most lived.
They are labelled 'Bengali' by the government and much of the Myanmar
population to infer they are interlopers from Bangladesh and are
denied access to health care, education and freedom of movement.
Myanmar, in Friday's statement, said "allegations of deportations
could not be further from the truth" and that it was working hard to
repatriate refugees.
Government spokesperson, Zaw Htay, on Friday said Myanmar stood ready
to receive the first batch of 3,000 Rohingya refugees, more than 1
million of whom now live in vast camps in Bangladesh.
Two UN agencies on Friday asked the government to "urgently" make
"substantial progress" on an agreement signed with the government
three months ago to facilitate conditions for Rohingya returns.
The UN Development Programme and UN High Commission on Human Rights
said the government still needed to ensure access to the area, clear
pathways to citizenship, and tackle the root causes of conflict
between Muslim Rohingya and Buddhist Rakhine.