The United Arab Emirates is identified in the sources as the principal external enabler of the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, providing extensive material support that fuels the RSF’s genocidal war. This involvement is not arbitrary but represents a calculated strategy aimed at state capture and comprehensive resource exploitation.
The primary geopolitical driver for the UAE's involvement is its region-wide ideological opposition to political Islam, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, which it perceives as a threat to its own monarchical system. The UAE views elements within the Sudanese Armed Forces as having ties to Islamists. Following this doctrine, Abu Dhabi supports autocratic non-state actors, such as Khalifa Haftar in Libya and the RSF in Sudan, to counter Islamist influence and popular democratic movements.
- Conflict Gold and Financial Laundering: The UAE is the central hub for the RSF's lucrative gold-for-weapons cycle. The RSF self-finances its war by controlling gold mines, primarily in Darfur. The illicit "conflict gold" is smuggled out of Sudan, mainly destined for Dubai. Dubai serves as the corporate headquarters and financial haven for the RSF's commercial empire, where UAE-based front companies like Capital Tap Holding and AZ Gold launder the gold into hard currency. This currency is then used to pay for advanced military technology and weapons, which are supplied back to the RSF.
- Control of Strategic Ports: A core component of the economic strategy is the control of maritime trade routes along the Red Sea. Prior to the war, the UAE finalized a $6 billion deal to build and control the Abu Amama port complex. The RSF acts as the military instrument to ensure this multi-billion-dollar concession is honored.
- Land Banking for Food Security: Sudan’s vast arable land is crucial to the UAE’s national food security strategy. UAE-based firms, including International Holding Company (IHC) and Jenaan Investments, manage large tracts of Sudanese farmland for crop and livestock production. This practice is described as a form of neo-colonial resource exploitation, with the RSF functioning as the on-the-ground enforcer for these land-grabs.
The UAE’s military and logistical backing has transformed the RSF into a sophisticated paramilitary army capable of high-intensity warfare and sustaining its campaign of genocide.
- The Amdjarass Airbridge: Overwhelming evidence documents a massive, covert "airbridge" operation run by the UAE. Flight data and satellite imagery confirm at least 86 cargo flights originating from UAE military airfields and landing at a remote airstrip in Amdjarass, Chad, located near the Darfur border.
- Advanced Weaponry: This supply line delivers advanced, game-changing weapon systems that have altered the balance of power in the conflict. These include Chinese-made precision-strike drones, such as the Rainbow series (CH-95), 155mm howitzers, and allegations of thermobaric bombs. Video evidence corroborates the presence of thermobaric mortar shells stamped with a UAE Armed Forces address. Furthermore, components of Western origin, such as British-made Cummins engines and Militec targeting systems, have been traced to RSF units via the UAE.
The UAE employs a dual-use logistical strategy, using high-profile humanitarian aid pledges and field hospital claims as a "humanitarian alibi" to cover covert arms shipments.
The UAE is engaged in a sophisticated diplomatic double-game. While publicly rejecting all claims of involvement and participating in peace forums, this strategy provides plausible deniability to its allies and media, while it continues to be the decisive military patron of the RSF. This behavior persists because the international community’s failure to hold the UAE accountable, due to Western strategic and economic dependence, has effectively granted it a "free pass" for enabling mass atrocities.