The Limited Powers of International Law to Protect the Rohingya Minority in Myanmar

International law regulates and sustains peace and order between States and defines their legal obligations of treatment of individuals within their boundaries. However, the powers of international law debilitate when resolving the internal affairs of States that require immediate attention and aid. The limitations derive from the challenges of legal provisions from both domestic and international levels that allow and disallow intervention. Myanmar, for instance, is a State that continues to prohibit the provision of fundamental rights to the Rohingyas, a stateless ethnic minority residing in the territory, despite the order of an international tribunal court to uphold the legal obligations in protecting the population. In this paper, I will argue that international law is inadequate to protect the Rohingya, as seen through the stagnancy of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling consisting of provisional measures in Gambia v. Myanmar to be a panacea to the crisis. Obstacles, such as Myanmar’s noncompliance and denial of genocidal intent in its Independent Commission of Enquiry report, as well as the UN Security Council’s inactivity due to the polarization among the Five Permanent (P5) members involved in the case, limit the ability of the ICJ and the international community to intervene in, and end or alleviate the Rohingya crisis. The first segment introduces the background of the Rohingya minorities and the historical and contemporary issues – be they legal, political, or social – they undergo. The second segment provides the analysis section that discusses the ICJ litigation of Gambia v Myanmar, its background, the facts, the actors or agents involved, the arguments of both parties, the decision of the ICJ, and the domestic and international complications that limit the effectiveness of the ruling. The last segment simultaneously acknowledges the benefits and circular difficulties of concluding the Rohingya crisis. It suggests solutions for both national and international levels to moderate the suffering of the minority population