The United Arab Emirates is the main supplier of weapons and other military equipment to the RSF, according to numerous reports.-/AFP/Getty Images
Federal officials are declining to say whether Prime Minister Mark Carney will use his visit to the United Arab Emirates this week to ask its leaders about their widely reported support for the paramilitary force that has committed massacres and other atrocities in Darfur.
Human-rights groups and Sudanese-Canadian activists are urging Mr. Carney to put pressure on the UAE to halt its alleged weapons shipments to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the powerful militia that has killed thousands of civilians in the Darfur region of western Sudan.
There are widespread reports – including some based on satellite images, flight tracking data, seized passports and other evidence – that the UAE is the main supplier of weapons and other military equipment to the RSF, including drones and armoured vehicles. It has repeatedly denied the reports.
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Mr. Carney is arriving on Tuesday in the country’s capital, Abu Dhabi, for a four-day visit that will largely focus on trade and investment, including discussions on energy security, critical minerals and artificial intelligence. It is the first visit to the UAE by a Canadian prime minister since 1983.
At a background briefing on Monday, senior federal officials confirmed that Mr. Carney will discuss regional peace and security issues during his UAE visit, including the Sudan conflict. But they did not provide a direct answer to multiple questions about whether Canada accepts the UAE’s denials and whether Mr. Carney will raise the weapons issue in his visit to Abu Dhabi.
The Globe and Mail is not naming the officials, who give background briefings on that condition.
They said only that Canada has taken note of the UAE government’s assertions that it does not provide support to the RSF. They pointed to joint statements by various governments, including Canada, that called on all “external actors” to contribute to peace in Sudan.
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The officials also noted that the UAE is a member of the four-country Quad that is trying to negotiate a ceasefire in Sudan. The group also includes the United States, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Sudanese women, mainly students, take part in an organized protest against violations committed by the RSF to the people of El- Fasher in eastern Sudan.STR/AFP/Getty Images
The Montreal-based Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights is among the groups that have pushed for stronger action by Mr. Carney. “Canada should first and foremost call out the UAE for its non-stop support to the genocidal RSF,” said Mutasim Ali, the centre’s legal adviser.
“Canada should immediately suspend its defence and security co-operation with the UAE,” Mr. Ali told The Globe.
In a social-media post this week, the Wallenberg Centre said: “It is well-documented that the UAE is supplying weapons to genocidal militias in Darfur. No world leader can feign ignorance on this. Will Carney sit face to face with accomplices to genocide and choose to focus on the money but ignore the massacres? Or will he use the moment strategically to protect human rights? We’ll be watching.”
Another organization, the International Crisis Group, said the U.S. must persuade the UAE to “throttle back” its support for the RSF if it wants a truce in Sudan.
“While Abu Dhabi believes it is pursuing its own legitimate interests, its go-it-alone approach on Sudan has created an untenable situation, with an arms race inside Sudan that is breaking the country apart and creating a humanitarian hellhole for millions of Sudanese,” the independent research group said. “The spotlight on its role in the conflict is growing harsher.”
A growing number of U.S. lawmakers have also called for action against the UAE because of its reported support of the RSF.
Most governments, aside from Sudan itself, have refrained from explicitly mentioning the UAE’s role in the conflict. But the Trump administration came close to breaking this taboo last week when Secretary of State Marco Rubio hinted that the UAE was arming and financing the RSF.
“We know who the parties are that are involved,” he told journalists in Hamilton as he departed from a meeting of G7 foreign ministers. “That’s why they’re part of the Quad along with other countries involved.”
Since Egypt and Saudi Arabia are neutral or supporting the Sudan government in the conflict, Mr. Rubio was clearly referring to the UAE, the only member of the Quad that is accused of supporting the RSF.
“We’re not going to let the Quad process that we’ve set up be a shield that people hide behind and say, ‘Well, we’re involved with the Quad, we’re trying to solve it,’” Mr. Rubio said. “We need actionable results, and they need to happen very quickly; otherwise, what’s already a travesty is going to get far worse.”
The RSF does not have the ability to manufacture its own weapons, he said. “Someone’s giving them the money and someone’s giving them the weapons, and it’s coming through some country. And we know who they are, and we’re going to talk to them about it and make them understand that this is going to reflect poorly on them.”