To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if the Government will join the Netherlands and Canada in formally supporting the Gambia in its International Court of Justice (ICJ) case against Myanmar; and whether his Department plans to seek Myanmar's first report to the ICJ to be made public so that the international community can scrutinise the contents of that report.
Answered on
19 April 2021
The UK supports the International Court of Justice (ICJ) process which is putting pressure on Myanmar to protect the Rohingya. We are clear that Myanmar should comply with the provisional measures ruling. We have reiterated our support to the ICJ process in Parliament, at the UN Security Council, and through public statements. We provided funding to enable Rohingya refugees to attend the ICJ hearing in December 2019. The case will develop significantly in the coming months. We are monitoring developments closely and will consider the legal arguments once they are made available to establish whether a UK intervention would add value.
We understand that Myanmar's report will only be provided to the Court and the parties. We believe it is in the interests of transparency that Myanmar publishes its response to the ICJ.