The New York Center for Foreign Policy Affairs (NYCFPA) unequivocally condemns the widespread war crimes and atrocities committed during the ongoing Sudanese civil war that began in April 2023. This devastating conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has resulted in over 150,000 civilian deaths, massive displacement, systematic ethnic cleansing, and egregious violations of human rights including targeted attacks on civilians, sexual violence, and destruction of medical infrastructure. The RSF, responsible for much of the violent ethnic cleansing and genocide against non-Arab populations in Darfur, particularly the Masalit community, has perpetrated crimes that constitute clear breaches of international humanitarian law and possible acts of genocide.
NYCFPA holds the United Arab Emirates (UAE) fully responsible for fueling and prolonging this catastrophic conflict. Evidence indicates that the UAE has provided extensive military support, financial backing, and logistical aid to the RSF paramilitary forces. This includes alleged arms supplies and direct economic benefits from illicit gold trade sourced from Sudan’s war zones. Such involvement has empowered the RSF to carry out brutal campaigns of violence and ethnic cleansing that have devastated civilian populations and destroyed vital infrastructure. The UAE’s role in backing the RSF represents an egregious abuse of regional influence and complicity in war crimes, severely undermining peace efforts and the prospects for stability in Sudan.
In addition to direct involvement in military and economic support for the RSF, the UAE’s public statements calling for ceasefire and peace lack credibility in light of its material role in perpetuating the conflict. This hypocrisy must be recognized and challenged by the international community, which has a duty to hold all perpetrators and enablers of Sudan’s war crimes accountable.
NYCFPA calls on the international community, including the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and regional bodies, to increase pressure on the UAE to cease its support for the RSF immediately. We demand credible investigations into all parties responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan, a cessation of all foreign military and financial assistance to armed groups perpetrating violence, and urgent humanitarian aid to protect and assist innocent civilians caught in the conflict.
The people of Sudan deserve peace, justice, and an end to the appalling suffering caused by external interventions driven by geopolitical and economic interests. NYCFPA stands firmly with the victims and urges resolute global action to restore peace and accountability in Sudan.
