Canada, Britain and main EU countries join Myanmar genocide case

The countries team up to join the case over Myanmar's treatment of the Muslim Rohingya minority before the UN top court in The Hague

A general view of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands Aug 22, 2023.

Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain have teamed up to join the genocide case over Myanmar's treatment of the Muslim Rohingya minority before the United Nation's top court in The Hague, the court said on Thursday evening.

The countries filed a joint declaration of intervention with the court, formally known as the International Court of Justice (ICJ), citing their "common interest in the accomplishment of the high purposes of the Convention", referring to the 1948 convention on the prevention and punishment of genocide.

"We are focusing in particular on violence against women and children", German foreign affairs official Tania von Uslar said in a post on X.

A UN fact-finding mission concluded that a 2017 military campaign by Myanmar that drove 730,000 Rohingya into neighbouring Bangladesh had included "genocidal acts".

Myanmar has denied genocide, rejecting the UN findings as "biased and flawed". It says its crackdown was aimed at Rohingya rebels who had carried out attacks.

The World Court rejected Myanmar's objections to the genocide proceedings in July last year, paving the way for the case to be heard in full.

The Maldives also joined the intervening countries in the case, the court said on Thursday.