Will a UN genocide verdict stop Asean from welcoming Myanmar back?

详细摘要

Myanmar faces a pivotal week as neighbouring nations weigh the future of post-coup relations, while the United Nations’ top court threatens a verdict ...

YANGON, Nov 15 — Myanmar faces a pivotal week as neighbouring nations weigh the future of post-coup relations, while the United Nations’ top court threatens a verdict of genocide over its dark past.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is scheduled on Thursday to rule whether Myanmar committed genocide against its marginalised Muslim Rohingya minority.

The case looms over a three-day meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) due to debate its policy freezing Myanmar out of summits since a 2021 putsch.

Rohingya activists say the pending judgement should haunt the minds of Asean leaders when they meet in the Philippines starting Sunday.

“We are waiting to see what the outcome will be on that day, the judgement for everything we have been experiencing for generations,” said a 25-year-old Yangon-based Rohingya activist who requested anonymity for security reasons.

“If they welcome people who lack basic humanity and destroyed our lives, our futures and our possessions, we will be very let down,” he added.

The UN court case and Asean’s diplomatic dilemma are separate issues on paper. But both converge on one man: Min Aung Hlaing.

The 11-nation Asean bloc has shunned Myanmar leaders from summits since his military coup turfed out the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and sparked civil war.

The Hague case dates back to 2017, when Myanmar is accused of breaching the United Nations Genocide Convention by brutalising the Rohingya.

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