Opinion: How the UAE’s mafia-style tactics are hurting both Sudans. The UAE has signed agreements with Sudan and South Sudan, strangling the two countries economically and politically, while openly supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

 A report by the United Nations Panel of Experts on Darfur, under Security Council Resolution 1591, accused the UAE of supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), citing compelling evidence, unveiled earlier this year. Its report documented the UAE’s conversion of Chad’s Um Jaras (Amdjarass) airport into a military and logistical supply hub for RSF weapons.

The report presented ample evidence of the UAE’s violation of the resolution’s arms embargo on Darfur. The UAE’s support for the RSF in Sudan’s war included using its political, economic and media influence to promote the militia and its leaders, as well as providing them with political sanctuary, a safe haven for their leaders and facilitating their movement across the region.

Opinion: How the UAE’s mafia-style tactics are hurting both Sudans

During the 2023 UN General Assembly, witnesses reported seeing Yousif Izzat, a Canadian national and advisor to the militia leader General Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemeti’ Dagalo. The UAE provided Izzat with an identification badge to freely enter and move within the UN headquarters.

However, the UAE’s support steadily evolved into an attempt to economically strangle Sudan to ensure RSF’s future institutional political existence in the Sudanese arena. This reveals the UAE’s intentions in plundering Sudanese resources in a mafia-like way. The UAE, which de facto controls Sudan’s gold resources, also seeks to deprive Sudan of its other national income resources.

Read more at The African Report