The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor has officially requested an arrest warrant for Myanmar's military leader Min Aung Hlaing.
As per BBC, the ICC urged arrest warrants, accusing him of crimes against humanity in connection with the ongoing persecution of the Rohingya minority.
ICC prosecutor Karim Khan stated there were reasonable grounds to believe Min Aung Hlaing that he held criminal responsibility for the ongoing persecution and deportation of Rohingyas to neighbouring Bangladesh.
Notably, in 2017 many Rohingyans left Myanmar to evade a campaign of what the UN has described as genocide launched by the Burmese military.
The government of Myanmar, however, has refuted these claims, asserting that it was only conducting a campaign against Rohingya insurgents.
In 2017, Rohingya insurgents killed around 30 police stations in Myanmar which sparked the first assaults on the Rohingya.
According to medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), at least 6,700 Rohingya, including 730 children under the age of five, died in the month amid the persecution.
Following, the news of Min Aung Hlaing's arrest warrant was made public, the Human rights organisations called it the "Day of celebration".
“The ICC prosecutor’s request for this arrest warrant is a strong warning to Myanmar’s abusive military leaders that they’re not beyond the reach of the law,” said Maria Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch.
"This is a rare day of celebration for the Rohingya," Tun Khin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation in the UK, told Reuters news agency adding, "Today we have finally taken another step towards justice and accountability."
To note, Min Aung Hlaing took power in 2021, after he led a coup against the elected government of Aung Sang Suu Kyi.
