The International Criminal Court is currently opening a probe into its options with the ongoing Rohingya Crisis. Fatou Bensouda, Gambian lawyer and chief ICC prosecutor, asked the court to make an affirmative decision on whether or not it had jurisdiction of the war crimes and mass deportation occurring in the state of Myanmar. This request by Bensouda is truly paving the way for international decisions and rulings of the ICC. Such a decision would restore hope for the refugees.

Over the past year, the Rohingya Muslims have been driven out of the country by official Myanmar armed forces known as Tatmadaw. The Rohingya reside in the northern part of the Rakhine state in Myanmar. This humanitarian crisis has left over 600,000 people displaced across borders and it has killed thousands of innocent civilians. Myanmar’s acts of ethnic cleansing and genocide against this helpless community have reached the attention of the United Nations and now the ICC. Myanmar has rejected the label “genocide” and claims that it has legitimate reasons for waging violence against the Rohingya people.

The ICC is in a troubled spot as Myanmar isn’t a signatory of the Rome Statute. The Rome Statute is a treaty signed by numerous countries across the world which declares genocide and other war crimes to be amongst the highest of international crimes. According to the Rome Statute, the Tatmadaw has violated numerous articles of the treaty, including 7(1)(D), which involves the perpetrator forcefully transferring and repatriating populations. Since Myanmar hasn’t signed or ratified this agreement, the ICC’s authority over such issues is severely limited. However, since Bangladesh, a country also involved in the Rohingya crisis, has signed and ratified this treaty, the ICC is looking into its options for involvement and possibly prosecution. The ICC’s authority in this issue can greatly help limit the violence perpetrated on this ethnic minority.

While the Rohingya are ethnically separate from Bangladesh, generations of living in Myanmar have made them consider the latter their home. The bulk of refugees have fled to Bangladesh, where they live in squalor. Thousands of little boats crammed with over 100 people have left the coast of Myanmar in a desperate hope for survival. Makeshift refugee camps have been set up in Bangladesh to accommodate the Rohingya.  The UNHCR declared that “conditions in Myanmar are not yet conducive for returns to be safe, dignified, and sustainable.”