The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has requested an international arrest warrant for the military ruler of Myanmar for the persecution of Rohingya.

The office of prosecutor Karim Khan said on Wednesday that Min Aung Hlaing, chief of the military regime that took control of the Southeast Asian country in a coup in 2021, is responsible for crimes against humanity regarding the treatment of the Rohingya minority.

The prosecutor’s office has been investigating alleged crimes committed during 2016-17 violence in the country’s state of Rakhine for the past five years, it said.

At that time, the Myanmar military unleashed a brutal crackdown on Rohingya civilians, sending at least 700,000 fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh amid reports of killings, torture, rape and arson.

Military chief Min Aung Hlaing “bears criminal responsibility for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya, committed in Myanmar, and in part in Bangladesh”, the prosecutor’s office said.

“My Office alleges that these crimes were committed between 25 August 2017 and 31 December 2017 by the armed forces of Myanmar, the Tatmadaw, supported by the national police, the border guard police, as well as non-Rohingya civilians,” Khan’s statement said.

The work of the ICC seeks to vindicate the resilience of the mainly Muslim minority community of Rohingya – more than a million of whom were forcibly displaced by military action – and “their hope in the power of the law”, the prosecutor added.

The judges at the ICC will now determine whether the application can warrant an arrest order. The process could take several months.

Myanmar’s military government has not commented on the move yet.

Turmoil has been building in Myanmar ever since the coup. Armed factions have fought the military regime and have gradually scored victories, especially in areas near the border with China.

That has stirred tension with Beijing, a major arms supplier to the regime and Myanmar’s biggest trade partner. Analysts note that China also maintains ties with the ethnic armed groups which hold territory along the border.

Earlier this month, Min Aung Hlaing embarked on his first visit to China since seizing power, with Beijing reportedly unhappy with his failure to ensure stability and halt criminality.

United Nations investigators said the military campaign against the Rohingya, which involved mass killings, rapes and destruction, was carried out with “genocidal intent”. Myanmar rejects the charges.

More to follow

This was the first application for an arrest warrant against a high-level Myanmar official issued by the ICC. The prosecutor, who was speaking from a refugee camp in Bangladesh, promised “more will follow”.

“In doing so, we will be demonstrating, together with all of our partners, that the Rohingya have not been forgotten. That they, like all people around the world, are entitled to the protection of the law,” the British-born barrister said.

In 2022, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest court of the UN, advanced a separate case against Myanmar, brought by Gambia, that investigates responsibility for genocide against the Rohingya.

Five European powers and Canada last year joined the ICJ case against Myanmar, arguing they seek to “make a contribution to clarifying and combating genocide”.

The request for an arrest warrant on Wednesday comes shortly after the ICC issued international arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders, six months after the prosecutor sought them.