THE people of Myanmar strongly support the Myanmar delegation currently representing the country at the Inter­national Court of Justice in The Hague, the Netherlands. This hearing is extremely important for Myanmar, as it involves a case in which an African country, thousands of miles away, has accused Myanmar of serious violations of international law.

The Government of Myanmar is appearing before the court not only to demonstrate its respect for international law and the role of the judiciary, but also to show that one-sided reports based on unfounded information cannot reflect the truth and cannot pro­tect the honour of Myanmar and its people. During the hearings held from 12 to 29 January, following The Gambia’s submissions, Myanmar formally replied to the court with strong, credible evidence on 16 January for the first round and on 19 January for the second round, demon­strating that The Gambia’s allegations are not supported by factual or legal grounds.

Being brought before an international court with un­substantiated information re­garding a case that did not ac­tually occur may cause some impact on Myanmar; however, it also provides an opportunity to formally present the truth to the international community.

The historical back­ground of the case currently under allegation includes the violent acts and terrorist at­tacks carried out by the ARSA insurgent group in 2016 and 2017, their brutal persecution and killings of Hindus and oth­er local ethnic groups, human rights violations, and ARSA’s imposition of control and ter­ror over villages in Maungtaw, Buthidaung, and Rathedaung townships in northern Rakh­ine State, as well as over Is­lamic Bengali communities and refugee camps across the border.

These numerous factual events have long been concealed, overlooked by international media, and neglected by biased in­vestigative missions. As a result, the international community has largely been unaware of these facts. Being able to present strong evidence before the international court now provides an oppor­tunity for Myanmar, which has limited media reach, to officially convey these facts.

The issue of the Bengali population in northern Rakhine State has, since colonial times, been primarily an administrative matter related to population management. Since the era of extremist Mu­jahid insurgent groups, some have attempted to exploit it politically, seeking to seize territory through various schemes.

Regarding the recent allegations against Myanmar based on unfounded and inaccurate information, the people of Myanmar express their full respect and support for the international court, which is being approached with trust, cooperation, and seriousness to uphold the rule of law in the field of international legal affairs.