The Broken Promise of “Never Again”: Myanmar’s Genocide Analyzed Under the U.N. Genocide Convention and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda’s Interpretation of the Convention

This Note examines the current genocide occurring in Myanmar. It looks at Myanmar’s cruel and inhumane treatment of the Rohingya community—a Muslim minority group in Myanmar with an initial population of one million. This Note proposes that Myanmar’s treatment of the Rohingya classifies as a genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Specifically, this Note retraces the evolution of persecution against the Rohingya community. Lastly, this Note studies Bangladesh’s response to the crisis since that is where most of the Rohingya seek refuge.

B.A., New York University, 2017; J.D., Cornell Law School, 2020; Notes Editor, Cornell International Law Journal, 2019-2020. Many thanks to Professor Muna B. Ndulo for his invaluable guidance and to the editors of the Cornell International Law Journal for their diligent assistance. Lastly, thank you to my parents, Iram and Khalid, and my uncle, Tariq, without whom none of this would have been possible.