In a unanimous order issued by 17 judges, the court upheld provisions of the Genocide Convention and said that Myanmar had “caused irreparable damage to the rights of the Rohingya”.

Under the court’s statute, it has the power to order provisional measures when “irreparable prejudice could be caused to rights which are the subject of judicial proceedings”. In this case, it found that the condition of urgency had been satisfied.

The Gambia filed a lawsuit against Myanmar last November alleging “an ongoing genocide against its minority Muslim Rohingya population” and violation of the 1948 convention.

Judge Abdulaqawi Ahmed Yusuf, presiding, emphasised that the ordering of provisional measures did not “prejudge” the case.

Gambia’s Attorney General, Abubacarr Marie Tambadou, told the court in December: “Another genocide is unfolding right before our eyes yet we do nothing to stop it.

“This is a stain on our collective conscience. It’s not only the state of Myanmar that is on trial here, it’s our collective humanity that is being put on trial.”