Calls are growing for the U.S. to end arms transfers to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after reports of horrific slaughter in Sudan this week by the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
On Sunday, the paramilitary force took control of el-Fasher, which was the Sudan Armed Forces’s (SAF) last major outpost in Darfur. The forces stormed the city, displacing tens of thousands and killing an estimated 2,000 people in door-to-door killings, executions, and a massacre at the Saudi Maternity Hospital.
The slaughter of civilians comes on the backdrop of what is already the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe amid the country’s bloody civil war, which has displaced 13 million people and killed tens of thousands.
RSF’s takeover of el-Fasher and scenes of mass slaughter renewed calls for the U.S. to end its arms transfers to the UAE.
“As we witness horrific scenes in El-Fasher, the UAE continues arming the RSF — which the U.S. has determined is committing genocide. Enough. We must pass my bill to block arms sales to the UAE until it stops fueling the RSF’s war crimes in Sudan,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Van Hollen introduced legislation in March, alongside Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-California), that would prohibit the sale of certain weapons until the president certifies that the country is no longer supplying the RSF. This followed a briefing from the Biden administration that confirmed the UAE’s transfers to the paramilitary force.
“I am horrified by the RSF’s mass killings of civilians in El Fasher, Sudan. We must do everything in our power to stop this genocide, including cutting off all weapons sales to the United Arab Emirates who are arming and funding this ethnic cleansing,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan).
The war’s civilian casualties have been immense, and the U.S. declared a genocide in Sudan earlier this year, naming RSF and allied forces as the main perpetrators. Additionally, the UN Security Council, of which the U.S. is a permanent member, has renewed its sanctions regime and arms embargo on Sudan. Analysts say that the war would be over if not for the UAE supplying weapons.
Despite this, the U.S. has maintained a flow of weapons to the UAE, which is a major supplier for RSF. Last year, the Biden administration advanced a $1.2 billion weapons sale to the UAE, despite evidence that the country was not making good on its pledge to not provide weapons to the RSF. Then, in May, the Trump administration notified Congress of a $1.4 billion sale of weapons and military equipment to the UAE, ahead of a visit to the UAE and Saudi Arabia by President Donald Trump.
U.S. intelligence agencies have reportedly assessed that the UAE increased its supplies of weapons to Sudan this year, including with advanced drones and bombs from China that UAE officials re-exported to RSF.
The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Gregory Meeks (New York), called for the passage of his legislation to prohibit major military equipment sales of countries supplying RSF or SAF, and require a report on whether U.S. weapons have been used in the country.
“This is unacceptable. My Sudan legislation would cut off US defense sales to external actors funding the conflict in Sudan. It’s also why I will continue holding all major U.S. arms sales going to the UAE while it continues to arm the RSF. The U.S. must do all we can to help end this devastating conflict,” Meeks said.
Others have called for the strong enforcement of the UN arms embargo on Sudan.
“Condemnation of this crime against humanity is not enough. The international community must take decisive action to enforce the United Nations arms embargo on the conflict in Sudan and hold accountable all who have enabled this genocide,” said Center for International Policy President Nancy Okail in a statement on Wednesday.
“In particular, the United States and its partners should halt arms transfers to, and impose other sanctions on, the United Arab Emirates, which is supplying the RSF with the weapons and related material used to carry out atrocities in Darfur,” Okail warned. “Failure to take enforcement action against the UAE could condemn hundreds of thousands more civilians to death at the hands of the genocidal forces the Emirates have armed.”
Per Amnesty International, there is evidence of weapons from countries like Russia, China, Turkey, and the UAE being used in Sudan. A recent report submitted to the UN has also found evidence of military equipment from the U.K. being used by the RSF in Sudan, having likely been re-exported from the UAE. Advocates are also calling on the U.K. to halt arms transfers to the UAE.
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