By Mat Nashed
This article was originally published by Truthout
“It’s really the bare minimum to call out the actors involved … the EU should be doing a lot more,” said an expert.
On July 9, the European Parliament passed a resolution that condemned the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for supporting a violent Sudanese paramilitary responsible for war crimes and other atrocities.
The resolution demanded urgent action to stop the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from invading el-Obeid, a strategic city in central Sudan at risk of mass atrocities. It called for an end to all “external interference” — singling out the UAE — including the “financing, arms supply or other support” to the RSF.
“Of course, the UAE will be annoyed,” said one European diplomat, who was not authorized to comment on the record, to Truthout. “But they are accustomed to dealing with PR issues. Over the last three years, they have been dealing with a lot of PR issues [regarding their role] in Sudan.”
Since Sudan’s civil war erupted in April 2023, the UAE has provided diplomatic and military support to the RSF, which is at war with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the national army.
Both the RSF and SAF have committed harrowing abuses such as summary executions and torture. The RSF has also subjected women and girls to systemic sexual violence and perpetrated crimes that “constitute distinct markers of genocide,” according to a recent United Nations probe.
Due to the RSF’s brutal violence, the UAE denies backing the group, seeking to portray itself as a regional trailblazer for progress and development. However, UN experts, human rights groups, and media outlets have documented its extensive support for the RSF, including the shipment of cheap Chinese-made drones and Chinese artillery. The UAE also uses shell companies to hire Colombian mercenaries to fight alongside the RSF.
While the EU resolution serves as another blow to the UAE’s reputation, it won’t stop the wealthy Gulf nation from supporting the RSF, say analysts and human rights advocates.
“Whenever the UAE gets called out, then they tend to double down,” said Kholood Khair, an analyst on Sudan and the founder of the Confluence Advisory think tank.
Symbolic Victory?
The resolution hasn’t changed the situation on the ground for civilians. In el-Obeid, some 500,000 civilians are living under a partial RSF siege, surrounded from the south and west.
SAF recently captured villages around el-Obeid and reopened a second vital supply line to the city.
As of now, civilians can only leave the city from the east and north, but the roads are dangerous. RSF drones threaten to hit any convoy that it believes carries material support for SAF.
The RSF launched at least 15 drones that killed 45 people over a span of three weeks in June, according to the UN Human Rights Office. The attacks have continued throughout July, hitting fuel tankers, water infrastructure, and electricity grids, and causing acute shortages of food and drinking water and widespread blackouts.
“Drones are still targeting civilians all over Sudan … what’s needed is [global] pressure to halt UAE supply lines to the RSF,” said Yahiya, a local relief worker in el-Obeid who requested a pseudonym due to the hostile security situation.
According to human rights groups and media reports, the UAE uses its financial leverage over regional partners — Chad, Libya, South Sudan, and Ethiopia — to funnel weapons and fighters to the RSF.
The EU’s latest sanctions banned all conflict gold smuggled out of Sudan. Both the RSF and the SAF financed their war efforts by selling billions of dollars’ worth of gold to the UAE, making the Emirates a key hub in Sudan’s war economy.
The UAE provides additional logistical, diplomatic, and financial support to the RSF.
Echoing Yahiya’s call, a recent report by Human Rights Watch urges the EU to take concrete steps against the UAE. Its recommendations include imposing targeted sanctions against UAE-linked companies that hire Colombian mercenaries, who are first covertly trained in the UAE and then deployed to Sudan.
Human Rights Watch also called on EU states to suspend all defense and military cooperation with the Emirates.
Yet Jonas Horner, an expert on Sudan with the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that EU members are unlikely to agree on punitive measures because some states fear jeopardizing their extensive economic ties with the UAE.
The two sides have roughly $328 billion in mutual investments. What’s more, EU foreign policy decisions require a consensus among all 27 EU member states. This makes it nearly impossible to pass punitive measures against a lucrative and strategic partner like the UAE.
“[The EU resolution] is as much a statement of the limitations of European diplomatic heft in the Gulf as it is a statement of Emirati confidence,” Horner told Truthout.
How Will the UAE React?
No evidence indicates the UAE has dialed back support to the RSF since the resolution was passed.
On July 22, local media reported that an attack believed to be carried out by the RSF killed 22 people in the town of Rahad, near el-Obeid. The group has also reportedly sent reinforcements toward the south of el-Obeid, fueling fears that it is preparing a major ground offensive that could lead to mass atrocities.
On the diplomatic level, Khair said that the Emirates may play up Iran’s relationship with SAF to win support from western capitals.
Tehran historically has links with members of Sudan’s Islamic Movement, some of whom hold powerful positions within SAF. During Sudan’s latest war, Iran restored diplomatic ties with SAF before sending weapon shipments of Mohajer-6 combat drones.
Given the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, the Emirates could frame RSF as thwarting Iran’s regional influence. That would bestow the RSF with even more impunity to carry out atrocities.
“The regional conditions are perfect for the UAE to say that, ‘you know, what’s happening in Sudan may be bad, but it would be worse [for the West],’” Khair told Truthout.
Another possibility could see the UAE step up its lobbying efforts across European capitals. The last time the UAE went on a lobbying blitz was ahead of a European Parliament session on Sudan in November 2025.
The UAE reportedly insisted that it was playing a positive role in Sudan by claiming that it was working within established international frameworks to help mediate a ceasefire. It also claimed that its main priority was trying to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis by contributing some $784 million to the UN mission in Sudan.
The blitz worked, prompting EU ministers to omit its name from the ensuing resolution. Khair says that some ministers may have since grown fed up with Emirati officials lying in public — and private — about the UAE’s backing for the RSF.
Still, she stresses that the resolution should not be viewed as a major milestone.
“It’s really the bare minimum to call out the actors involved,” she said. “Really, the EU should be doing a lot more.”
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