Refugees International calls for Investigation into UAE Arms Shipments to Darfur
September 3, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – Refugees International, a humanitarian aid organization, has called for an immediate and impartial investigation into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) apparent systematic violations of the UN arms embargo on Darfur.
The call comes after the New York Times reported that the UAE has been sending arms to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia in Darfur, which is currently engaged in ongoing ethnic cleansing operations in that region.
The UN Security Council imposed a Chapter-VII arms embargo on Darfur in 2004 in response to the genocide in that era and extended it again last March. Shipment of arms to the RSF in Darfur constitutes a clear violation of that binding embargo.
In addition, Refugees International has accused the UAE of conducting its RSF resupply flights under the guise of operating humanitarian activities in Eastern Chad with partners, including the Emirati Red Crescent. The organization says this is a “reprehensible and dangerous misuse of humanitarian activities.”
“Refugees International is calling on the UN Panel of Experts on Sudan to immediately investigate the UAE’s apparent systematic violations of the Darfur arms embargo, the UAE to immediately halt arms resupply to the RSF, the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting to review potential violations of the UN arms embargo in Darfur, and the governments of Uganda and Chad to suspend UAE supply flights until they are able to verify that those flights are not violating the UN arms embargo.”
The organization is also calling on the UN to consider establishing a humanitarian verification mission in Chad to ensure that arms are not being delivered under humanitarian auspices and on the Emirati Red Crescent to immediately review its operations in Eastern Chad to ensure they are not being instrumentalized as cover for illegal arms shipments.
(ST)