Rights group accuses UAE of being transit point for mercenaries on way to Sudan

Colombian mercenaries were recruited by a United Arab Emirates-based institution and transited done Emirati subject bases to enactment paramilitary troops who committed atrocities successful Sudan, a starring rights organisation alleges.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the findings are further grounds of UAE-backing for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been accused of warfare crimes during the Sudanese civilian war.

The UAE denies claims it recruited and trained overseas fighters successful its territory.

"The UAE does not licence its territory to beryllium utilized for the recruitment, training, financing oregon transit of overseas fighters to immoderate conflict, including Sudan," its ministry of overseas affairs said.

The HRW probe was conducted done interviews with Colombian mercenaries betwixt March and September 2025 arsenic good arsenic an investigation of societal media posts identifying cardinal locations and weapons successful videos and images.

War broke retired successful Sudan connected 15 April 2023, pursuing increasing hostility betwixt the paramilitary RSF forces and the Sudanese army.

Since past much 150,000 radical are believed to person died from the unit and much than 12.9 cardinal person been displaced.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro was quoted past twelvemonth arsenic calling the mercenaries "spectres of death" and describing their recruitment arsenic a "form of quality trafficking".

HRW says airports successful the UAE, Libya, Chad and Somalia were utilized arsenic transit points for the mercenaries earlier travelling to the frontlines successful the Darfur region.

"They didn't stamp our passports," a mercenary told the rights group, describing his travel done the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi.

"We went successful and went retired and determination was a autobus waiting for america to instrumentality america to a subject base."

Investigations by the rights organisation constituent to the engagement of a analyzable web of Colombian and Emirati companies which advertised "drone aviator enactment successful Africa" targeting erstwhile Colombian service men.

HRW alleged that an Abu Dhabi-based institution recruited the Colombian contractors who were deployed to Sudan to "provide the RSF with tactical and method expertise, serving arsenic infantry and artillerymen, drone pilots, conveyance operators, and instructors".

According to HRW, the mercenaries were past trained successful UAE subject facilities successful Ghiyathi and Al Wathba earlier covert deployment to warfare zones successful Sudan wherever gross quality rights violations specified arsenic wide extrajudicial killings, rape and pack rape, intersexual slavery, looting and demolition of civilian infrastructure were allegedly committed.

The RSF has faced peculiar planetary outrage pursuing its convulsive seizure of the metropolis of el-Fasher past year.

"In November and December 2025, six el-Fasher residents told Human Rights Watch they saw radical they believed were Colombians successful the metropolis successful October 2025, erstwhile wide killings were taking place," the HRW study states.

A subsister detained by the RSF who is quoted successful the study said helium saw "foreign fighters" who "looked connected silently" arsenic RSF fighters opened occurrence connected crowds. Another reported seeing "white fighters" alongside RSF fighters who killed three.

"They were determination erstwhile the executions happened, but they didn't execute."

RSF person Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo past twelvemonth declared an probe into what helium called violations committed by his soldiers during the seizure of el-Fasher.

The HRW study besides says munitions belonging to the UAE equipped forces were recovered aft the seizure of Colombian mercenaries wrong Sudan. Some of the munitions were manufactured successful Serbia and Bulgaria but purchased by the UAE, according to HRW.

HRW has called for the UN, African Union, and the UK and US governments to talk retired astir the UAE's alleged engagement successful the warfare successful Sudan.

The UAE told the BBC allegations that Emirati companies were progressive successful supporting the RSF had been investigated.

"Where allegations person been made astir circumstantial entities, the applicable authorities person investigated, including by making inquiries with companies cited successful unfastened sources," the overseas ministry said successful a statement.

"Any idiosyncratic oregon entity - Emirati oregon overseas - that were to enactment successful a mode that could reasonably beryllium interpreted arsenic providing operational enactment to an equipped non-State histrion would beryllium doing truthful without authorities authorisation, successful usurpation of Emirati law, and would beryllium taxable to transgression probe and prosecution."

The connection added that the state "remains committed" to moving with its partners to "alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people" by securing a lasting ceasefire and assistance make what it called an "inclusive, Sudanese-owned modulation to an autarkic civilian-led government".