Myanmar authorities have said that a request by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the mass deportation of 700,000 people – overwhelmingly those who identify themselves as Rohingya – as “meritless” and have called for it to be dismissed; Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya term, and instead refers to the largely stateless group as “Bengalis”, implying they are illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Myanmar is not a member of the ICC, but in April its chief prosecutor Ms Fatou Bensouda asked judges to consider whether the court could extend its jurisdiction to Myanmar. It had called on Myanmar officials to submit a formal response by July 27. The deadline passed but in a statement, Myanmar accused the ICC of bias. The statement said that Myanmar was “under no obligation to enter into litigation with the prosecutor”, since it was not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that oversees the ICC. Despite criticism from many in the international community, Myanmar has largely denied any wrongdoing by its security forces during last year’s military crackdown in northern Rakhine State.