Read on the GuardianUK Ties with UAE Prioritized Over Averting Mass Atrocities in Sudan, MPs to Hear
The British government had intelligence as early as 2024 that Ethiopia appeared to be supporting a genocidal militia in Sudan's civil war but did not go public for fear of upsetting the United Arab Emirates. A Yale human rights investigator will tell a parliamentary select committee that the UK's Foreign Office prioritized its relationship with the Emirates over preventing mass atrocities, including the genocidal massacre of tens of thousands of civilians in El Fasher. The testimony reveals senior FCDO officials attempted to downplay death tolls and withheld evidence of UAE-linked support for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The British government had received intelligence that Ethiopia appeared to be supporting a genocidal militia in Sudan's civil war as far back as 2024 but did not go public with the news for fear of upsetting the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a parliamentary committee will hear. In testimony to the Commons international development committee, Nathaniel Raymond, an American human rights investigator at Yale University, will allege that the UK government was more interested in preserving relations with the Emiratis than averting mass atrocities in Sudan.
In May 2024, officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told Raymond that "significant private pressure" from the UAE meant the UK would not publicly divulge information linking Ethiopia and the emirates to their support for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Ethiopia's role in Sudan's civil war did not become public until early this year, and it continues to deny involvement. The FCDO officials requested Raymond to publicly release phone data analysis linking UAE-based facilities to the RSF because the UK government could not, according to Raymond's written testimony.
Downplaying the Death Toll in El Fasher
Raymond's testimony will also focus on what he describes as the UK's "failed efforts to prevent the mass killing" of tens of thousands of people during the RSF's genocidal massacre in El Fasher. After the city fell to the RSF following an 18-month siege, Raymond privately briefed the international development committee that at least 60,000 civilians had been killed. An FCDO atrocity-prevention official then contacted him to ask if the figure was too high.
Raymond responded that his number did not include deaths from famine or the RSF's bombardment during its siege. "I explained the math. I stated that, in reality, the number of people that the RSF systematically killed after capturing the city could have been higher," Raymond wrote in his testimony. "The FCDO official and I discussed numbers further. I came to believe that this estimate of at least 60,000 people killed by the RSF was a political problem for the FCDO." Based on three years of encrypted messages, internal meeting notes, memos and phone records, his testimony will also reveal that on 26 September 2025, a British UN official "expressed despair about the lack of any possible action by the Starmer government as the city was about to fall."
Evidence of UAE and Ethiopian Support for the RSF
Raymond's revelations of longstanding Ethiopian involvement in Sudan's war relate to 15 May 2024, when he met FCDO officials in London and shared collated data from mobile phones inside RSF headquarters. The Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) had tracked handsets moving between Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, to RSF-held territory in Sudan. Some phones moved from RSF locations to addresses in the emirates, which HRL believes were shell companies linked to the RSF's deputy commander, Abdul Rahim Dagalo.
One phone moved to Abu Dhabi from Addis Ababa in four hours, despite no official air traffic data or scheduled commercial flights matching the route, indicating deliberate attempts to evade detection. At the time, HRL could not share the telecommunications data publicly because it would compromise sources and operational methods. However, HRL secretly shared the data with the US to support sanctions against Dagalo-linked shell companies. Details of Ethiopia's involvement became public in February after Reuters reported that Addis Ababa was hosting a camp to train RSF fighters, a move backed by the UAE.
A Failure of International Responsibility
Raymond will tell the MPs that he believes the FCDO prioritised the UK government's "economic, security and diplomatic relationships with the UAE above preventing the intentional starvation and genocidal slaughter of tens of thousands of civilians living in El Fasher." He will add that the UK's position as "penholder," or lead country, on Sudan at the UN security council meant its role was vital. "The UK was our best hope at that time for stopping what we believed would become one of the single largest mass-casualty events of the 21st century." The FCDO has been contacted for comment. Ethiopia and the UAE have both denied accusations of funding or arming the RSF.
