In December, The Gambia brought charges of genocide of the Rohingya to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Since then we have been campaigning for the UK government to support the case.
Now the British government has publicly welcomed the Rohingya genocide case for the first time.
In answers to Parliamentary Questions on 9th of January, British Foreign Office Minister Heather Wheeler MP stated:
“We are following proceedings in The Hague closely and welcome the International Court of Justice’s consideration of whether genocide has occurred. The UK is not currently involved in the case. UK Ministers have consistently expressed their profound concern at the horrific events of August 2017 in Rakhine state. The perpetrators of these atrocities should be held to account.”
This public support is a significant step forward. The British government should now translate those words into action and provide practical support to The Gambia for the case, such as legal or financial assistance.
