AT long last, an arrest warrant may be on the way from the International Criminal Court for Min Aung Hlaing, the notorious Myanmar junta leader who the United Nations alleged in 2018 to be responsible for the death of 25,000 Rohingya.
On Wednesday (Nov 27), ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan issued a statement saying he had requested a warrant of arrest for Min Aung Hlaing for crimes against humanity after "an extensive, independent and impartial investigation".
The crimes against humanity cover those committed in Myanmar and in Bangladesh, where more than 700,000 Rohingya fled following a massive operation by the Myanmar military on Aug 25, 2017.
Close to that many are still in Bagladesh's Kutupalong refugee camp, arguably the world's largest.
Those who made it to Bangladesh, brought with them tales of mass rapes, massacres and torched homes.
United Nations investigators have variously described the military operation as one being carried out with "genocidal intent" or "a textbook case of ethnic cleansing".
From the statement issued by the ICC, neither crime seems to be the basis for the arrest warrant.
A panel of three judges of the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber are expected to make a ruling soon, which may mean anything between three weeks (as in the case of Russian President Vladimir Putin) and six months (as in the case of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli foreign minister Yoav Gallant).
Sadly for the Rohingya, time is one thing that they can ill afford. Life for them, both in Myanmar and Bangladesh, has been one of desperation.
The international community takes little notice of that. Encouraged by this selective neglect, the Myanmar military continues to ethnically cleanse the Rohingya who remain in Rakhine.
If reactions by the Rohingya on the news of ICC's arrest warrant against Min Aung Hlaing is anything to go by, it is a glimmer of hope for them.
But they must know — like the Palestinians are finding out in the case of Netanyahu and Gallant — there is many a slip between the issuance and the execution of the arrest warrant.
This is the age of extinction, not just of flora and fauna, but international organisations, too.
Disturbingly, this is caused by powerful nations who are members of such organisations.
Take the UN. It is as good as dead. Genocide, ethnic cleansing, massacres and the like continue because it is just unable to put an end to them.
The UN Security Council could have long ago referred the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya to the ICC, but it chose not to because of the geopolitical interests of some permanent five (P5) members.
Abdicated thus, the responsibility fell on Asean, of which Myanmar is a member.
Unlike the world body, which is empowered by the UN Charter, Asean's "document of destiny" is one founded on consensus.
Like the veto of the P5, the bloc's consensus is a great hurdle to tough action. The toughest of Asean's actions has been the banning of the military regime from its meetings.
But murderers don't bother about meetings anyway; being absent means more time for murders.
The ICC must not allow the Myanmar junta the time for more murders. To allow so doesn't only mean failing the Rohingya, but also failing itself.