On 26 October 2025, the city of El Fasher in North Darfur fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after an 18-month siege and concerted offensive. What followed is being described as an unfolding massacre targeting civilians, hospitals, and ethnic groups, while the world largely looked on. This tragedy starkly highlights two interlinked failures: the destructive role of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in enabling RSF’s assault and the hollow nature of Western rhetoric about human rights, protection of civilians, and accountability.
What happened in El Fasher
For over 500 days, the city was under siege by the RSF, with access cut, civilians trapped, and aid stifled.
As the RSF moved in, reports emerged of mass killings: hundreds, then thousands of civilians executed, including in a hospital. For example, according to the World Health Organization, about 460 people were killed at the “Saudi Maternity Hospital” in El Fasher.
Ethnic targeting was evident: civilians belonging to non-Arab groups (such as the Fur, Zaghawa, and Masalit) were singled out.
The UAE is accused of providing crucial support to the RSF’s operation financial, logistical, and arms transfers, and thereby helping enable the siege and fall of El Fasher.
UAE’s role: Enabler, not neutral
The UAE presents itself publicly as a humanitarian actor in Sudan, it provides aid flights, supports refugees, and backs diplomatic efforts. But mounting evidence suggests a far darker role:
According to credible reports, the UAE operated cargo flights to eastern Chad (Amdjarass), which the UN Panel of Experts says were likely funneling arms to RSF, under the guise of humanitarian aid.
The RSF itself, in documentation reviewed by rights groups, has used UAE-connected companies or front organisations (for example, via the UAE-based Tradive LLC) for procurement of vehicles, equipment, and logistics.
Analysts conclude that without such external backing, the RSF would not have been able to sustain the long siege of El Fasher, nor carry out such wide-scale operations.
Thus, the UAE’s role is not one of a benign bystander but of an enabler of war crimes, of a paramilitary force implicated in mass killings.
The West’s empty words are
While the evidence piles up, the reaction of Western governments has been largely performative: strong statements, calls for independent investigation, symbolic sanctions—without real pressure or consequences.
The United Nations Security Council held an emergency session following the fall of El Fasher and the killings, but concrete action remains absent.
Although the UK and other European states have approved arms sales to the UAE, and investigators say some of those weapons ended up with RSF, there has been no serious review of those sales or their end-use.
Western capitals continue to treat the UAE as a strategic partner in the Gulf region, despite its complicity in Sudan. The political calculus appears to override the commitment to human rights.
In short, when millions of lives are at risk, the West issues statements but fails to act when the violator is a partner or geopolitical ally.
Why this Matters
The tragedy of El Fasher matters for three key reasons:
1. Precedent for impunity: If RSF’s massacre of civilians in El Fasher goes unchallenged, it reinforces the message that war crimes committed with external backing can proceed without consequence.
2. Humanitarian collapse: Tens of thousands now face death by starvation, disease, or summary execution. The siege and fall of El Fasher could mark a revival of the worst of Darfur’s legacy.
3. Erosion of global norms: If allies of the West can commit mass atrocities with Western silence, then the very edifice of protection of civilians, of international humanitarian law, becomes hollow.
What needs to be done
To avoid turning El Fasher into a forgotten massacre, a serious international response is required:
Immediate and sustained safe corridors for civilians to flee and for humanitarian aid to reach trapped populations.
A full independent investigation into the crimes in El Fasher, mass executions, ethnic killings, hospital attacks, and into the role of external backers such as the UAE.
Arms controls on states proven to have supplied militias committing atrocities; criminal accountability for those who aided the operations.
A realignment of Western foreign policy so that strategic partnerships do not override basic human rights obligations.
Conclusion
El Fasher stands at a grim crossroads. The fall of the city and the massacre that followed are not just brutal acts; they are a signal. A signal that paramilitaries, backed by states, can besiege cities, blockade civilians, and commit atrocities and still proceed without real consequence. The UAE’s role in enabling the RSF’s campaign is part of the story. The other part is the West’s failure to act meaningfully in the face of mounting evidence.
If the world cannot muster the courage to stop this atrocity, then the words of “never again”, “protection of civilians,” and “human rights” will ring increasingly hollow mere rhetoric in the face of real horror.
