Myanmar said on Saturday that the case which was filed by the Gambia against the country at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning the alleged violation of the provisions of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, is a matter of “high national interest”.
During a press briefing, U Kyaw Tint Swe, Minister of the Office of the State Counsellor, and U Kyaw Tin, Minister of International Cooperation, made the remarks.
Myanmar has retained the services of topmost legal experts to contest the case, submitted by the Gambia, and a strong legal team has been formed, Xinhua news reported.
Earlier on Thursday, the government had announced that Aung San Suu Kyi will lead the Myanmar legal team to Hague, Netherlands to defend the country’s national interest at the ICJ concerning Rakhine issue.
In August, Myanmar authorities verified 3,454 people for an initial round of returns from a list of 22,000 submitted by Bangladesh authorities.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR and Bangladesh authorities had said that they are seeking to confirm that these refugees wish to return.
More than 740,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since August 2017 to escape the Myanmar military. They joined about 200,000 refugees who had fled previous waves of violence and persecution.