Myanmar’s government expressed “serious concern” over the International Criminal Court prosecutor seeking jurisdiction over alleged deportations of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar to Bangladesh, reports Reuters.

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda, On Monday, asked it to rule on whether it has jurisdiction over the deportations of the Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh.

Although Myanmar has not signed the Rome statute, Bangladesh has. The filing submitted by Ms Bensouda said,

“The persecution seeks.. to verify that the curt has territorial jurisdiction when persons are deported from the territory of a state which is a party to the Statute. This is not an abstract question but a concrete one, affecting wither the court may exercise jurisdiction.. to investigate and, if necessary, prosecute.”

The request is the first of its kind field at the court, reports The Guardian.

In a statement made Friday, Myanmar’s government said,

“The Government of Myanmar expresses serious concern on the news regarding the application of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor to claim jurisdiction over the alleged deportations of the Muslims from Rakhine in Bangladesh. Nowhere in the ICC charter does it say the court has jurisdiction over states which have not accepted that jurisdiction. Furthermore, the 1969 UN Vienna Convention on International Treaties states that no treaty can be imposed on a country that has not ratified it.”