Statement from Refugees International Director for Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, Daniel P. Sullivan:
“Refugees International is deeply alarmed by reports of imminent mass atrocities in and around El Obeid in Sudan. The recent increase in Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters surrounding the city, coupled with ongoing drone attacks have already led to numerous civilian casualties. An RSF attack on El Obeid could place more than 500,000 people at risk, including 100,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in the region.
At the same time, escalating violence in other areas of Sudan, including by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Blue Nile and the Nuba mountains risks further atrocities against civilians. The RSF, SAF, and their allied militias must halt atrocities, protect civilians, and allow humanitarians access to people who need immediate lifesaving aid.
External actors with influence over the warring parties must use that influence now to seek an immediate ceasefire in and around El Obeid to protect civilians and ensure humanitarian access
Several external actors have been supporting the SAF and RSF, including Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey. But the United Arab Emirates (UAE) stands out as the primary backer – including through the supply of drones and other weapons – of the party threatening imminent mass atrocities in El Obeid. In October 2025, the fall of El Fasher in Darfur at the hands of the RSF led to tens of thousands of deaths and widespread ethnic targeting and sexual violence in what the UN Fact Finding Mission described as having “the hallmarks of genocide”. Additional investigations, including by the Conflict Insights Group (CIG) – supported in part by Refugees International – have also shown that the UAE is supplying arms to the RSF. In particular, the CIG report was able to establish UAE-backed Colombian mercenaries providing drone support to the RSF in El Fasher just ahead of and during the city’s fall.
If El Obeid falls as El Fasher did, the UAE cannot claim that the outcome was beyond its control. The international community must hold UAE officials accountable for what the forces they back choose to do
Refugees International, once again, calls upon the UAE to immediately halt supply of arms, training, and mercenaries to the RSF, and to use its influence with the RSF to stop the ongoing and imminent atrocity crimes in Sudan.
We further call upon the UN Security Council and individual states to call out the role of the UAE in fueling the RSF’s atrocities and to sanction both RSF officials and UAE officials involved with supporting the RSF.
Finally, the United States must halt any further weapons sales to the UAE until it ends its support for the RSF.”
For press inquiries, please contact Madison Cullinan at [email protected]
