ICC prosecutor requests probe into Rohingya deportation

By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet

ANKARA (AA) - A prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) declared that she intended to submit a request to open an investigation in the deportation of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, according to an ICC statement on Wednesday.

Following the notification, the court convened a pre-trial chamber that would decide whether or not to authorize prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to open an investigation into the issue, the statement said.

It added that last September the court decided it may exercise jurisdiction over the "alleged" deportation of the Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh. Later that month, Bensouda announced the opening of a preliminary examination into the issue.

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, escaped Myanmar and crossed over into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017.

Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).

Some 18,000 Rohingya women and girls were raped by Myanmar’s army and police and over 115,000 Rohingya homes were burned down and 113,000 others vandalized, it added.