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

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Rights group accuses UAE of being transit point for mercenaries on way to Sudan23 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleThomas MukhwanaAfrica correspondentAFP via Getty ImagesThe paramilitary RSF group has been fighting Sudan's regular army since 2023Colombian mercenaries were recruited by a United Arab Emirates-based company and transited through Emirati military bases to support paramilitary troops who committed atrocities in Sudan, a leading rights organisation alleges. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the findings are further evidence of UAE-backing for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been accused of war crimes during the Sudanese civil war. The UAE denies claims it recruited and trained foreign fighters in its territory.

"The UAE does not permit its territory to be used for the recruitment, training, financing or transit of foreign fighters to any conflict, including Sudan," its ministry of foreign affairs said. The HRW investigation was conducted through interviews with Colombian mercenaries between March and September 2025 as well as an analysis of social media posts identifying key locations and weapons in videos and images. War broke out in Sudan on 15 April 2023, following growing tension between the paramilitary RSF forces and the Sudanese army.

The Details

Since then more 150,000 people are believed to have died from the violence and more than 12. 9 million have been displaced. Getty ImagesMillions of refugees have fled abroad including to neighbouring ChadThe HRW report follows last month's research by security analysis organisation, the Conflict Insights Group (CIG), which also highlighted the alleged involvement of Colombian mercenaries in Darfur, Sudan's western region now largely held by the RSF.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro was quoted last year as calling the mercenaries "spectres of death" and describing their recruitment as a "form of human trafficking". HRW says airports in the UAE, Libya, Chad and Somalia were used as transit points for the mercenaries before travelling to the frontlines in the Darfur region. "They didn't stamp our passports," a mercenary told the rights group, describing his journey through the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi.

"We went in and went out and there was a bus waiting for us to take us to a military base. "Investigations by the rights organisation point to the involvement of a complex network of Colombian and Emirati companies which advertised "drone pilot work in Africa" targeting former Colombian army men. A simple guide to what is happening in SudanSudanese city under siege: 'My son's whole body is full of shrapnel'HRW alleged that an Abu Dhabi-based company recruited the Colombian contractors who were deployed to Sudan to "provide the RSF with tactical and technical expertise, serving as infantry and artillerymen, drone pilots, vehicle operators, and instructors".

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.