ISTANBUL
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday condemned the “horrific crimes” against civilians across Sudan, warning that the targeting of residential areas and vital infrastructure marks a “dangerous escalation” and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.
In a statement, the UAE Foreign Ministry said the attacks, including recent violence in the city of El-Fasher, amount to “a crime against humanity” that requires “a unified and decisive international position” to stop the country’s worsening conflict.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state and a strategic city in the region, on Oct. 26 and carried out massacres of civilians, according to local and international organizations, triggering warnings that the takeover could cement a geographic partition of the war-torn country.
Abu Dhabi voiced full support for regional and international efforts to enforce an immediate humanitarian truce and a nationwide ceasefire that would allow aid to reach affected communities and end the “ongoing suffering of civilians” since the war broke out.
The ministry called on the warring parties to “fully assume their responsibilities” to protect civilians and guarantee the rapid and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance. It also rejected the exploitation of humanitarian needs or aid supplies “for political or military purposes.”
The statement praised the latest joint declaration by the international Quad for Sudan—which comprises the US, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Egypt—calling it a “historic step” that accurately diagnoses the roots of the conflict and lays out a clear roadmap: a humanitarian truce followed by a civilian-led political transition.
On Sept. 12, the Quad called for a three-month humanitarian truce in Sudan to enable the delivery of emergency aid to all areas as a step toward a permanent ceasefire.
The UAE reiterated that there is “no military solution” to the conflict and said regional and international consensus reflected in the Quad’s statement represents “important support for Sudan’s unity and the path to peace.”
Abu Dhabi renewed its call for an immediate nationwide ceasefire and a “comprehensive political dialogue” as the sole way to end the war, preserve Sudan’s territorial integrity, and relieve the humanitarian crisis facing “the brotherly Sudanese people.”
Out of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF currently controls all five states of the Darfur region in the west, except some northern areas in North Darfur that remain under army control. The Sudanese army rules over most of the remaining 13 states in the south, north, east, and central regions, including the capital, Khartoum.
Since April 15, 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been locked in a war that regional and international mediations have failed to end. The conflict has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.