On April 15, 2023, a war broke out in Khartoum between two parties. On one side, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) represents the official military of Sudan, and includes its army, air force, and navy. The opposing faction is the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is a paramilitary group formed by a previous dictatorship, built upon extremist beliefs against non-Arab communities.
In early 2025, the SAF captured the capital city, Khartoum enabling new offensives into central and south-central Sudan, and allowing them to capture El-Obied and move toward key RSF positions in Darfur. This was met by RSF resistance in North Kordofan, stalling the advances of the SAF. Meanwhile, in North Darfur, SAF units and allied forces have been expelled from El-Fasher following an RSF siege ongoing since 2023. The RSF is now committing a genocide in Darfur, resulting in 225,000 deaths, 14 million people fleeing their homes, 5 million people living in emergency or famine conditions, and 19 million people living in need of humanitarian aid.
A key actor in this development has been the United Arab Emirates, who has provided financial, political, and military support to the RSF. The UAE is invested in Sudan’s affairs due to their wealth of natural resources, including agricultural lands, gas, and golds. The primary goal for the UAE in Sudan has been about maintaining political influence in a strategically very important country. This is because the resources which Sudan has an abundance of, the UAE lacks.
The UAE has been an active counterrevolutionary force since the Arab Spring in 2011. It financially supported the military coup that brought Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to power in Egypt. In Libya, it supported Khalifa Haftar’s war against the internationally recognised government. With regards to its involvement in Sudan, the UAE has historical ties with Omar Al-Bashir’s regime, and more recently supported the RSF.
The UAE saw Sudan as a great commercial and strategic opportunity. Gold reserves amount to approximately 49% of Sudan’s exports, and its location on the Red Sea presented the possibility of building ports. The Central Bank of Sudan reported that in 2024, almost 97% of official gold exports (from army-held areas) went to the UAE, earning $1.52 billion. The UAE has a vested interest in having military supervision of gold production and exports.
Material support from the UAE has taken place through highly elaborate supply chains, which has made their involvement difficult to track. Supply routes take place via Libya, Chad and Uganda, providing arms, ammunition, missiles, and drones. A detailed report produced by Amnesty International provides evidence for the presence of UAE armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles in Sudan, being used by the RSF in particular. While the UAE is one of several other countries supplying arms to Sudan, its contribution to the RSF-controlled gold mines and overall commercial gain is unrivaled.
It is clear that the UAE is responsible for the commission and continued support of a genocide, prompting Sudan to take the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in March of 2025. Specifically, Sudan claims that the UAE is in breach of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) of 1948. Sudan and the UAE are signatory states to the Genocide Convention, having joined in 2003 and 2005 respectively. However, the UAE made a reservation to Article 9 upon joining, which essentially absolves it from the Court’s jurisdiction on issues concerning interpretation, application or fulfilment of the Convention. The Court has since dismissed the case, and the UAE has undermined the accusations as well as their involvement. To the dissatisfaction of the ECDHR, the UAE has continued its contributions to the genocide in Sudan, putting millions of lives at risk while reaping the benefits of Sudan’s natural resource access.