Sudan Claims UAE is Sending Colombian Mercenaries to Assist RSF
Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Sudan has accused the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of deploying Colombian mercenaries to support the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the country’s ongoing conflict. Additionally, mercenaries from other African nations are reportedly involved in the fighting between Sudan’s armed forces and the RSF.
According to Sudanese authorities, they possess “irrefutable evidence” that the UAE is facilitating the movement of Colombian mercenaries and recruiting fighters from neighboring African countries to aid the RSF.
The Sudan Foreign Ministry said, “This unprecedented phenomenon poses a serious threat to peace and security in the region and across the continent.”
The RSF has been accused of committing ethnic cleansing and other atrocities in Darfur and various regions of Sudan. Despite these serious allegations, the UAE appears to be turning a blind eye to the RSF’s actions.
AFP reports, “The fighting in Darfur, with brutal attacks from the Arab-dominated Rapid Support Forces on ethnic African civilians, is reviving fears of another genocide, back in the early 2000s, when as many as 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million were driven from their homes, many by government-backed Arab militias.”
Ethnic cleansing by the RSF is not limited to Darfur; other regions of Sudan are also suffering. In areas such as the Nuba Mountains and South Kordofan, reports of ongoing ethnic massacres highlight the widespread and systematic nature of the violence.
Sudan Tribune reports, “A report by a Sudanese rights group has accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias of committing war crimes and systematic ethnic cleansing in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan region, using sexual violence and starvation as weapons of war.”
Images circulating on social media appear to show Colombian mercenaries and other Spanish-speaking fighters operating in Sudan. Should it be confirmed that these individuals are operating with the backing of the UAE, the international community must hold the UAE accountable for its role in exacerbating the conflict.
Catherine Russell (the Executive Director of UNICEF – actively involved in highlighting the crisis in Sudan) said, “Children as young as one being raped by armed men should shock anyone to their core and compel immediate action… Millions of children in Sudan are at risk of rape and other forms of sexual violence, which is being used as a tactic of war. This is an abhorrent violation of international law and could constitute a war crime. It must stop.”
Regrettably, international protests against the brutalization and killing of Black Africans by Arab Muslim groups in Sudan and neighboring regions have not generated the same level of global outrage or sustained attention as the crises in Gaza or the war between Russia and Ukraine.
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