On May 22, one day ahead of the deadline, Myanmar submitted the report to the ICJ. By submitting the report, Myanmar signaled its willingness to comply with the genocide convention and cooperate with the court. Myanmar also set a new standard on a similar case, as historically many states have failed to comply with the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ, for example, Serbia and Uganda.

Initially, doubts lingered as to whether Myanmar would comply with the system. One official from Myanmar had denounced the court decision and portrayed it as a "distorted picture of the situation" (BBC, Jan. 23). Furthermore, there is a crack in the system, as it has no enforcement mechanism, even though the measures imposed by the court are binding and not subject to appeal. In addition, there is a lack of incentive for the state to comply with the measures.

It is unclear if the public will have access to the report.

However, I notice that, on April 8, the Office of the President issued two directives related to the compliance with the Genocide Convention. Directive No. 1/2020 orders government officials in Myanmar to refrain from committing any act of genocide, and Directive No. 2/2020 prohibits the officials from destroying or removing evidence of genocidal acts.

Moreover, as reported by RFA on May 5, the Myanmar government also released a directive in April requesting all civil servants to stop using or engaging in hate speech or inciting violence on social media.

These measures signify a change in the country, but civil society groups in Yangon opine the government only pays lip-service so as to reduce international pressure. In a webinar on May 20, Wai Wai Nu, a Rohingya activist, said there had been no meaningful measures to prevent genocide in the last four months.

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