Bangladesh has strongly criticized Myanmar’s recent submissions before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Naypyidaw of deliberately misrepresenting the Rohingya people as “Bengalis” in an attempt to justify past atrocities and evade international accountability.

In a press release issued on January 23, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Bangladesh “takes serious exception” to Myanmar’s portrayal of the Rohingya as illegal migrants and internal security threats in the genocide case brought by The Gambia at the ICJ.

The ministry said Myanmar’s narrative seeks to justify the so-called “clearance operations” carried out in Rakhine State in 2016–17 as counter-terrorism measures, while diverting attention from atrocity crimes committed against the Rohingya population.

“The systematic effort to label the Rohingya as ‘Bengalis’ constitutes a denial of their inherent right to self-identify and has been used to justify their exclusion, persecution, and eventual ethnic cleansing,” the statement said.

Rohingya’s Historical Roots Reaffirmed

Bangladesh reiterated that the Rohingya are a distinct ethnic group with deep historical, cultural, and social roots in Arakan—present-day Rakhine State—dating back centuries and predating modern national borders.

According to the ministry, historical records, colonial-era demographic accounts, and independent scholarship clearly document the long-standing presence of the Rohingya in the region. Attempts to portray them as recent migrants or foreigners are therefore inconsistent with historical facts.

The statement noted that the term “Rohingya” originated as an exonym linked to the historical name of Arakan and was later adopted by the community as a form of self-identification amid increasing marginalisation in Myanmar.

Citizenship and Political Exclusion

The government said the Rohingya were active participants in Myanmar’s political and social life until the promulgation of the 1982 Citizenship Law, which excluded them from citizenship on ethno-religious grounds.

Despite systematic economic, cultural, and political marginalisation, the Rohingya retained voting rights until they were fully disenfranchised ahead of Myanmar’s 2015 general elections. Their eventual mass expulsion from Rakhine State, Bangladesh said, rendered the community effectively stateless.

“The Rohingya possess a distinct ethnic identity, cultural heritage, traditions, and language, which is separate from Bangla, despite certain linguistic similarities,” the ministry said.

Rejection of Myanmar’s 1971 Claim

Bangladesh also rejected Myanmar’s claim that around half a million Bangladeshis took refuge in Rakhine State during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War, describing the assertion as unsubstantiated and unsupported by demographic evidence.

The ministry noted that Rakhine’s total population at the time was less than 1.7 million, and the presence of such a large refugee population would have caused significant social and economic disruption and attracted global attention, none of which was documented. Subsequent censuses in Myanmar also provide no evidence to support the claim, it added.

Call for Accountability and Repatriation

Bangladesh accused Myanmar of persistently failing, for more than eight years, to fulfil its legal and bilateral obligations to create a conducive environment for the voluntary, safe, and dignified return of the Rohingya, in violation of agreements signed in 2017 and 2018.

“Such continued inaction and the citing of excuses to delay repatriation may be interpreted as evidence of an intention to destroy the Rohingya community,” the statement warned.

Calling on Myanmar and other actors exercising authority over Rakhine State, Bangladesh urged a genuine commitment to recognising the Rohingya as an integral part of Myanmar’s society and state, and to ensuring their reintegration with equal rights, safety, and dignity.

The case at the ICJ was filed in 2019 by The Gambia, a predominantly Muslim West African nation, accusing Myanmar of violating the Genocide Convention through its actions against the Rohingya minority.