A pro-military politician and long-time nationalist leader has publicly declared he will continue advocating a genocidal policy against the Rohingya minority, in comments made amid ongoing hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over alleged genocide.
Nay Myo Wai, former chair and current senior figure of the Yangon-based Peace and Diversity Party—a political ally of Myanmar’s military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party—told a pro-junta media outlet that he stands by extreme rhetoric targeting Rohingya Muslims. His remarks came shortly after ICJ hearings in The Hague, where Myanmar is defending itself against accusations that its security forces committed genocide against the Rohingya in 2016–2017.
In an interview with Myanmar National Post, a military propaganda outlet, Nay Myo Wai said he learned that the ICJ was reviewing a speech in which he said Rohingya entering Myanmar waters should be “shot, killed, dumped, buried”—language he asserted was accurate and reflected his enduring stance. He said the party continues to support a policy to “deal with” Rohingya in this way.
“I said what I said, and I still stand by it,” Nay Myo Wai told the outlet, repeating calls for harsh treatment of Rohingya and rejecting characterisations of genocide. He described Rohingya as “Bengalis,” a label the military often uses, and said policies against them will continue.
During the Myanmar National Post interview, he was quoted making statements that mirror the violent rhetoric he had made years earlier: including, “If you don’t want to be wiped out, don’t come,” and “If you come, we will do it,” again referring to the Rohingya.
In 2015, Nay Myo Wai made a series of public statements that human rights lawyers say constitute clear genocidal rhetoric, explicitly calling for the killing and elimination of the Rohingya population.
“I won’t say much, I will make it short and direct,” he said in 2015. “Number one, shoot and kill them! [the Rohingya]. Number two, kill and shoot them! Number three, shoot and bury them! Number four, bury and shoot them! If we do not kill, shoot, and bury them, they will keep sneaking into our country!”
Nay Myo Wai has made little attempt to walk back these comments, instead, he has repeatedly doubled down.
His comments come as the ICJ—the United Nations’ highest court—is holding a landmark three-week series of hearings on whether Myanmar violated the 1948 Genocide Convention in its campaign against the Rohingya, which forced hundreds of thousands to flee to Bangladesh amid allegations of mass killings, rape, and widespread destruction. The case was brought by Gambia in 2019.
Matthew Smith, the CEO of the human rights organisation Fortify Rights, told Myanmar Now that Nay Myo Wai’s continued use of violent statements are a clear example of how Myanmar’s generals tolerates this language, allowing unchecked and unmitigated genocidal rhetoric.
“This isn’t a fringe voice or a slip of the tongue. Nay Myo Wai is openly reaffirming, in 2026, the same exterminatory language he used against the Rohingya in 2015,” Smith said.
“What matters is not just that he says this, but that this kind of language remains normalised, defended, and unrepudiated in Myanmar. That goes directly to genocidal intent, to the foreseeability of violence, and to the state’s continuing failure to prevent genocide—precisely what the ICJ case is about.”
He added that when a prominent political figure can publicly call for people to be shot, slaughtered, killed and buried, and say he does not care if it is labelled genocidal, it shows the mindset that drove the Rohingya genocide was never dismantled. Under international law, he pointed out, such statements amount to evidence of ongoing risk, incitement and a failure to prevent and suppress genocide.
In 2017, the Myanmar military rolled out a campaign of mass killings, sexual violence, and village burnings against the Rohingya Muslim minority, which peaked in 2017 and was later examined at the International Court of Justice in 2019. Since then, more than a million Rohingya have remained in overcrowded refugee camps in Bangladesh, while those still in Myanmar face apartheid-like restrictions, persecution, and continued displacement, with little prospect of safe return or justice.
The Peace and Diversity Party is a small, Yangon-based military proxy with a long record of nationalist and anti-Muslim positions and close ties to the military and its political wing, the USDP. Founded by Nay Myo Wai in 2010, the party was re-registered with junta authorities after the 2021 coup, with Nay Myo Wai now serving in a senior patron role.
At the ICJ in The Hague, Myanmar’s junta representive on Friday rejected allegations of genocide against the Rohingya, telling judges that The Gambia’s case rests on what it called “unsubstantiated allegations.” Speaking as Myanmar’s agent, Ko Ko Hlaing, a former military officer and junta representative, said the country recognises the importance of the 1948 Genocide Convention but firmly denies breaching its obligations under international law.
“A finding of genocide would place an indelible stain on my country and its people,” Ko Ko Hlaing told the court, describing the proceedings as fundamental to Myanmar’s reputation and future. He criticised the evidence cited by The Gambia, including reports by a UN fact-finding mission, as “neither reliable nor objective.”
Myanmar also rejected claims that its 2016–2017 “clearance operations” in northern Rakhine State were genocidal in intent, saying they were counter-terrorism actions launched in response to attacks by armed groups. Ko Ko Hlaing acknowledged that civilians were killed and large numbers of people fled to Bangladesh, but disputed allegations that Myanmar denies the existence or rights of Muslims in the area, arguing that questions of citizenship and identity “have nothing to do with genocide.”
The hearings will continue through late January, and a final, legally binding judgment is expected months after proceedings conclude.
“The ICJ case isn’t only about 2016 and 2017—it’s about whether Myanmar has changed and whether the Rohingya are safe today,” Smith said. “They are not. This video, viewed nearly half a million times, shows the underlying genocidal ideology remains politically acceptable.”
