In a ruling that the Rohingya minority have celebrated, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ordered Myanmar to take urgent measures to protect the mostly Muslim minority.

On Thursday, a panel of 17 judges unanimously decided that Myanmar should take “all measures within its power” to prevent genocide, following a case filed by The Gambia in November.

Presiding Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said Myanmar has “caused irreparable damage to the rights of the Rohingya”, referring to a military campaign of violence in Rakhine state that saw more than 740,000 members of the ethnic minority flee to neighbouring Bangladesh in 2016 and 2017.

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While academics and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh welcomed the judgement, others have urged caution – now, they say, there must be increased international scrutiny on Myanmar’s treatment of the minority.

Following the ruling, the government of Myanmar issued a press release claiming “there has been no genocide in Rakhine.”

Tun Khin, a leading Rohingya activist based in the UK, told Al Jazeera that Myanmar has engaged in “denial after denial”.

He called the ruling a “big victory for the Rohingya” but warned that a lack of political will from the Myanmar government will stand in the way of the order being implemented.

“The Rohingya have been persecuted for five decades. The Myanmar government hates the Rohingya and dehumanises the Rohingya,” he said.