When Myanmar’s new president, Min Aung Hlaing, took office last week, his rise to power drew immediate outrage beyond his country’s borders, according to Reuters. On Monday, a group of civil society organisations in Indonesia filed a criminal complaint accusing him of genocide against the Rohingya, the persecuted Muslim minority whose suffering has long haunted Southeast Asia.
The case, lodged with Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office, marks a rare and historic step. Activists claim it is the first genocide complaint to be accepted under Indonesia’s new penal code, which recognises universal jurisdiction, allowing the prosecution of grave crimes regardless of where they occurred or who the victims are.
Among the complainants is Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya who fled the violence in Myanmar. She joined prominent Indonesian figures, including a former attorney general and the chairman of Muhammadiyah, one of the nation’s largest Muslim organisations. Speaking on Monday, Ullah hailed the move as “a milestone for all Rohingya people on their long march to justice.”
The complaint links directly to the brutal military campaign of 2017, when Myanmar’s army, under Min Aung Hlaing’s command, drove more than 730,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh. Survivors described horrific acts—villages burned, families slaughtered, women assaulted. The offensive drew global condemnation and led to calls for accountability that remain unanswered today.
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation and host of ASEAN’s headquarters, is a frequent destination for Rohingya refugees fleeing by boat. Its legal push adds new pressure on Myanmar, whose military regime has already been accused at the United Nations’ top court by Gambia, another Muslim-majority country, of committing genocide.
While Myanmar’s government continues to deny the charges, and its junta offered no comment on Monday, the complaint’s acceptance signals that the quest for justice, though long delayed, may finally be stirring across Asia.
