Displaced Sudanese who fled El-Fasher after the city fell to the RSF walk in the Um Yanqur Refugee Camp, Tawila, Sudan, November 3, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

 24 June 2026 

UK authorities have suppressed key intelligence and failed to act on warnings about atrocities in Sudan to preserve diplomatic and economic ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to testimony presented to lawmakers.

During a hearing of the UK Parliament’s International Development Committee on Tuesday, Nathaniel Raymond, director of Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, said the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) ignored repeated warnings before the so-called Rapid Support Forces (RSF) captured El-Fasher in October 2025.

Raymond told lawmakers that the assault was followed by a massacre that claimed at least 60,000 civilian lives.

He said British policymakers placed strategic ties with the UAE above efforts to prevent starvation, displacement, and mass killings in Sudan.

Evidence presented during the hearing included mobile phone tracking data linking Addis Ababa, Abu Dhabi, and RSF-controlled territory.

According to Raymond, the information pointed to a covert weapons supply network supporting the militant group.

While the UAE and Ethiopia have denied supporting the RSF, Raymond said pressure from Abu Dhabi influenced the UK’s response.

UAE joined US-Israeli aggression against Iran from outset: Report

The UAE has played a far more extensive role in the US-Israeli war on Iran than previously known, carrying out dozens of air strikes on Iranian territory from the opening days of the aggression, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

He also stated that UK officials asked his research team in May 2024 to release sensitive tracking data publicly because the government was unwilling to challenge the UAE directly.

Raymond described a missed opportunity after the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2736, when RSF operations reportedly paused while international reactions were assessed.

“Once the UAE assessed there would be no consequences, the attack resumed,” Raymond told the committee.

Decisions made by successive British governments, including those led by former Prime Ministers Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, contributed to a failure to prevent further bloodshed, he said.

A BBC report published in April linked the UAE to a network of Colombian mercenaries known as the “Desert Wolves,” who provided drone and artillery support to the RSF during the battle for El-Fasher.

Conflict Insights Group director Justin Lynch said, “The scale of atrocities and siege in El-Fasher would not have happened without the drone operations the mercenaries provided.”

Satellite imagery analyzed by Yale researchers after the city’s fall showed evidence consistent with mass casualties, while the United Nations later said the violence bore “hallmarks of genocide.”

SHARE THIS ARTICLE