Sudan’s Silent War

Photo Via NBC News

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         Peace has become a forgotten word in Sudan. Since April of 2023, the fight for power between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has evolved into one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the 21st century. Two years later, the city of El Fasher, once a refugee camp for hundreds, if not thousands, of displaced people, has descended into chaos. As hundreds of thousands are fleeing, civilians are being massacred, and food and medicine are running out. Yet behind this catastrophe lies not only Sudan’s internal collapse but a shadow network of foreign funding, with political ambition chief among them. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a notable example.

         These atrocities are reminiscent of the early 2000s Darfur genocide, which was a mass killing of Sudanese by the Sudanese government and backed by Arab militias. The RSF, led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, aka “Hemedti,” has turned El Fasher into a slaughterhouse. Amnesty International reports that the RSF has carried out ethnically targeted killings, sexual violence, and attacks on civilians and infrastructure. This was not an isolated tragedy but rather a logical outcome of a system fueled by external enablers who have found profit in Sudan’s suffering and resources.

For over 18 months, the RSF has besieged El Fasher, cutting off all humanitarian aid and trapping over 260,000 civilians within the city. The United Nations even warns that the risk of a large-scale atrocity grows by the day. On October 26th, 2025, the RSF claimed to have control over key parts within the city, and the SAF soon announced its withdrawal. The city’s fall is a symbolic and strategic win for the RSF but a devastating blow for the civilians within, who have to endure famine, indiscriminate shelling, and mass executions, unable to flee the city and forced to bear unthinkable atrocities.

International monitors have described scenes via satellite as unimaginable horrors. A Yale Humanitarian Research Lab reported details of mass killings in El Fasher under the RSF control, documenting evidence of systematic violence and executions of civilians. The report highlights the situation as a human security emergency, warning that El Fasher could become another Srebrenica—a genocidal killing of over 8000 Bosniak men and boys during the Bosnian War—if global powers remain idle and fail to engage in ending the ongoing horrors. Similarly, The New Humanitarians describe how the RSF siege has turned genocidal, with entire communities being wiped out in orchestrated campaigns for an undeliverable reason to other countries and nations.

Despite repeated calls for intervention, the national community response has been largely symbolic. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) pleaded in September 2025 that civilians must be protected and that atrocities in Darfur must be stopped. Yet, nearly two months later, the atrocities not only continue but have intensified. This pattern of inaction only raises the disturbing factor of this war and the question of who benefits from Sudan’s chaos. At the heart of Sudan’s tragedy is a proxy war that extends beyond its borders on the continent. Both the RSF and SAF have drawn support from foreign backers seeking to expand their regional influence and gain resources in the process. The UAE, in particular, has emerged as the RSF’s most powerful sponsor, helping them with arms transfers, gold trade networks, and logistical support. Abu Dhabi has effectively bankrolled Hemedti’s campaign in Darfur, ensuring that they never run dry of resources and support.

According to multiple investigations, the RSF has funneled gold from Sudan’s mines through Dubai’s markets, providing the UAE with cheap resources while it funds its own war machine. The BBC reports that more than 60,000 people have fled El Fasher after the RSF militia captured it, as UN officials warn that the violence has reached genocidal proportions, never to be seen in the past 20 years. The UAE’s alleged funding of the RSF for gold smuggling and arms shipments has drawn international condemnation. Yet these economic ties are not new, as the RFS predecessors, the Janjaweed militia, infamous for the 2003 Darfur genocide, have established networks of resources and extractions that appeal to foreign investors. The UAE’s growing dependence on Sudanese gold reflects a deeper strategic ambition as they maintain influence over the Red Sea corridor and secure material wealth to diversify its economy.

Al Jazeera reports that UN officials have condemned the horrifying mass killings in Sudan as the RSF advances, calling it a nightmare for humanity. However, the commendations mean little when countries with the power to stop the funding remain compliant. The UAE’s role goes beyond indirect trade, as analysts and regional experts have pointed to evidence of Emirati bases within Chad and Libya that have been used to funnel weapons and supply soldiers with resources on the RSF frontline. These routes, disguised as humanitarian aid or commercialized cargo, have kept Hemedti’s troops operational despite international sanctions and arms embargoes. Meanwhile, Middle Eastern actors, most notably Egypt and Saudi Arabia, have been playing both sides as they mediate ceasefires while quietly supporting military operations to protect their own regional interests. This duplicity has turned Sudan into a battleground for Gulf influence, where human lives are collateral damage for the extraction of earth minerals and financial aid.

The impact on civilians is beyond comprehension. The UN reports that tens of thousands are fleeing El Fasher on foot, escaping through mine-laden roads with little to no food or water. The RSF blockade has left humanitarian convoys unable to reach the city, and hospitals are struggling to cope with the influx of patients. According to Amnesty International, around 260,000 civilians are trapped ahead of the RSF attacks on Sunday, as many of them are displaced from earlier waves of the conflict period. The RSF tactics of mass execution, destruction of aid centers, and systematic sexual violence have reflected a deliberate strategy to instill terror and erase entire communities within days just to achieve their goal.

As OCHA and UN officials continue to issue warnings, it becomes increasingly clear that Sudan’s conflict is no longer about military control but the survival of the people. Regional organizations, such as the African Union, have been reluctant to respond, hindering efforts to address political divisions and the fear of alienating Gulf donors. Framing a majority of Western nations and Middle Eastern nations adds blame for this, as they are willing to take responsibility for human lives over the fact that they do not want to engage against the UAE and combat their idea of sacrificing human lives for economic interest, and putting the UAE at fault, as they are willing to give up human lives all for gold. What makes this war particularly tragic, though, is how systematically it has been commodified. As Sudan’s suffering has become a profitable enterprise, the RSF’s gold exports flow through Dubai’s markets, often read and sold globally without scrutiny. This trade finances the same militias committing these massacres, allowing for more gold to be traded throughout the world. For the UAE, this means control over a lucrative supply chain that significantly increases its economic diversification plans. Although for Sudan, it means perpetual war for the next few years, if not decades.

The Yale Humanitarian Research Lab and the New Humanitarian have both described a pattern of systematic cleansing as entire villages have been razed, markets have been burned, and women have been targeted for sexual and physical assault. These acts are not random acts of chaos but deliberative campaigns for domination enabled by financial and military lifelines that originate outside Sudan’s borders and outside the continent of Africa. The silence of the international community is striking despite overwhelming evidence of war crimes being committed daily, and there are no coordinated sanctions against the UAE or other states in the funding network. Instead, Western nations continue to court Abu Dhabi as an ally in trade, counterterrorism, and energy markets.

Sudan’s descent into genocide is not a product of chaos but rather a consequence of choice. The RSF atrocities are fueled by the money and materials supplied by foreign sponsors who see the opportunity in destruction. As the UAE’s involvement in laundering or converting arms channels represents a moral class that extends beyond borders, without repercussions from Western nations, it is a concern. If the world continues to look the other way, El Fasher will not be the last tragedy, as it will be a template for future ones. The people of Sudan deserve more than sympathy; they deserve justice, and justice begins with accountability, not only for the men with guns but for the states and countries that continue to keep their guns loaded.

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This article was edited by Vedha Gokul and Graciela Wray-Rivera.