UAE: Arming the Rapid Support Militia The International Refugee Organization calls for an investigation into UAE arms shipments to Darfur

What’s behind the news?
Mohammad Wadaa
UAE: Arming the Rapid Support Militia
The International Refugee Organization calls for an investigation into UAE arms shipments to Darfur
President of the Organization: The UAE systematically sends weapons to the Rapid Support Forces militias
President of the organization: The Emirates Red Crescent is involved in covering up arms shipments
President of the organization: Uganda and Chad facilitate the passage of Emirati weapons to the Rapid Support militias
The position of the Sudanese government baffles local and international observers
Jeremy Konyndyk, President of the International Refugee Organization, issued a statement on September 29, 2023, in which he called for an investigation into UAE arms shipments to Darfur. The statement stated, “The International Refugee Organization is shocked by the New York Times report stating that the United Arab Emirates government is systematically sending weapons to a militia.” The Rapid Support Forces in Darfur, which are currently involved in ongoing ethnic cleansing in that region. The UAE has allied with the perpetrators of the 2003 genocide in Darfur and is now actively arming them – in violation of a binding UN arms embargo – while committing Militia mass atrocities in the region again. Furthermore, the UAE is conducting resupply flights for the Rapid Support Forces under the guise of humanitarian activities in eastern Chad with partners including the Emirates Red Crescent. This is a serious and reprehensible misuse of humanitarian activities. Supporting activities Military operations under supposed humanitarian auspices expose legitimate humanitarian workers to extreme danger, and also violate the basic regulations and principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
Konyndyk called on the United Nations Group of Experts on Sudan to immediately investigate the clear systematic violations committed by the United Arab Emirates of the arms embargo on Darfur, including a review of the roles of the Chadian and Ugandan governments in facilitating the transfer of these weapons and their failure to enforce the embargo. The governments of Uganda and Chad must Suspend UAE supply flights until it can verify that these flights do not violate the UN arms embargo, and for the UN to consider establishing a humanitarian verification mission in Chad to ensure that weapons are not delivered under humanitarian auspices. The UAE Red Crescent should review its operations in eastern Chad on Immediately to ensure that they are not used as a cover for illegal arms shipments, Konyndyk also called on the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to review the circumstances of the Emirates Red Crescent’s involvement in these arms shipments, and to consider any repercussions on the Emirates Red Crescent’s status as a member of the movement. He also called on the United Arab Emirates to stop Immediately re-supply the Rapid Support Forces with weapons, and use its influence with the Rapid Support Forces to stop the ongoing ethnic cleansing operations in Darfur,
This statement gains its importance from the prestigious position enjoyed by Konyndyk, head of the International Refugee Organization. The statement was not limited to condemning the UAE’s violation of international law only, but also called on the United Nations team concerned with Sudan to immediately investigate the violation of the UAE and the Emirates Red Crescent in violating international humanitarian law by using relief. A cover for military actions, and the statement considered that the governments of Chad and Uganda participate in these violations by facilitating this and providing corridors for the transfer of these weapons.
Official international reports, supported by photos and testimonies from Western officials, revealed the UAE’s involvement in sending weapons and logistical supplies to the Rapid Support Militia via flights via Uganda to Umm Djeres Airport in Chad, and from there to Zarq in North Darfur. According to international law, this classifies the UAE, Uganda and Chad is an aggressor country against Sudan, and this, in addition to following diplomatic means, gives Sudan the right to rely on Article 51 of the United Nations Charter and authorizes it to direct pre-emptive strikes to prevent these weapons from reaching the Rapid Support militias, and the charters of the Arab League, the African Union, and the United Nations The United States grants Sudan the right to file complaints against the UAE, Uganda and Chad, while reserving the right to respond in the appropriate place and time.
Analysts and observers of the course of the war in our country are ignorant of the reasons that prevent the Sudanese government from exercising its rights under international laws, and they are filled with doubts as they study all the possibilities that could explain the position of the Sudanese government, but they find nothing. At least the Foreign Ministry and the Armed Forces have not made any progress. With a complaint against the three countries, and this weakens faith, this is what increases the confusion of the Sudanese. The Sudanese authorities are required to submit a statement in this regard.
October 5, 2023 AD