Husam Mahjoub interview: the UAE is fuelling Sudan's humanitarian crisis
Yet western countries seem to be deciding that picking a fight with the UAE over Sudan isn't worth the hassle, argues Mahjoub.

Husam Mahjoub, an Austin-based engineer of Sudanese origin, runs on little sleep. Aside from his 50-hour weeks on the job, he is also busy running Sudan Bukra, an independent non-profit Sudanese TV channel, concerned with democratic transformation in Sudan, watched by millions inside and outside the country wanting to follow news coverage of Sudan’s brutal civil war.
The conflict, well into its second year, shows no sign of abating as the two warring factions continue to battle for control, pushing the country into what the International Rescue Committee has described as “the biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded”.
Since the war began, over 10 million people have been displaced, at least 20,000 people have been killed directly from the violence, with at least 43,000 more indirect deaths from the conflict, an estimated 755,000 people are on the verge of starvation and gender-based violence is rife.
All the while, the conflict remains at the periphery of global attention.
Fighting erupted in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum in April 2023, amid a power struggle between the two biggest military factions, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), aligned with the government, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with both groups intent on ruling the country. The RSF was founded as a counterinsurgency militia by the dictator al-Bashir, who was ousted in a military coup in 2019. It is responsible for the governmend-led genocide against non-Arab communities in Darfur between 2003 and 2005. A similar situation is now unfolding in modern-day Darfur, say UN and Human Rights Watch experts, who claim that warnings of genocide in Sudan’s civil war are being drowned out by the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
Mahjoub was born in Sudan and studied in Oman, the UAE and the US, before working in the UAE and Sudan, and finally settling in the US. He launched Sudan Bukra in 2019, amid growing demand for channels that were neither government propaganda nor international media outlets with a superficial understanding of the complex dynamics inside the country. Sudan Bukra was the main TV channel to broadcast live during the 3 June 2019 massacre in Khartoum, when the military regime led by the commanders of today’s SAF and RSF used gunfire and tear gas and killed over 100 people who were staging a peaceful sit-in. At the time, foreign outlets were either asked to leave or not allowed to operate.
Mahjoub told Reaction that he believes it will take many more years for Sudan to exit a state of war, though the international community could intervene at least in the short term to encourage a temporary ceasefire. “If you stop the import of weapons to Sudan and pressure the RSF and SAF, there might be a chance for a cessation of hostilities.”
The UAE is one of the main sponsors of the RSF in the war in Sudan and, while it has openly denied funding the paramilitary, growing evidence indicates that the UAE is indeed furthering its foreign policy interests by sending arms to the RSF. While it publicly partakes in peace negotiations alongside the UK, US and Saudi Arabia, it also lends help to the RSF by sending arms through its network in Africa, under the cover of providing humanitarian aid, as well as airlifting its wounded soldiers to Emirati hospitals. Its involvement in the war is part of its wider Middle East strategy, says Mahjoub, to increase its political influence, achieve economic hegemony, and crush democratic opposition.
The UAE embassy in London was contacted for comment but has not responded.
Smuggled gold produced in Sudan, one of Africa’s biggest gold producers, has helped to fund the RSF’s front against the SAF. The UAE imported precious metals, stones and coins valued at $1.03bn in 2023, according to data from Trading Economics.
As well as pledging billions of dollars into infrastructure and mining, the UAE “has huge investments in land, agriculture, food production and livestock” inside Sudan, says Mahjoub. The International Holding Company (IHC), the UAE’s largest listed firm, and Jenaan Investments, Abu Dhabi’s agricultural investor, together manage over 50,000 hectares of Sudanese farmland. The UAE also exerts significant control over Sudan’s agricultural sector through the Abu Hamad Agricultural Project. This large-scale farming project - developed by the UAE in partnership with Sudan's largest private company, Dal Group - covers 162,000 hectares of cultivated land.
In 2020, the UAE imported 85 per cent of the food it consumed. Meaning food security is a key concern for Emiratis. The UAE will be looking to install a favourable regime in Sudan to improve its standing in the Global Food Security Index, says Mahjoub.
The wider international community has a duty to intervene in Sudan, he adds, but little action has been taken. Why? Because “Sudan is such a small piece in the geopolitics of all the important international players,” particularly as far as countries such as the US and UK are concerned.
In November, an Amnesty International report revealed that French-manufactured military technology, incorporated into armoured personnel carriers made by the UAE, is being used on the battlefield in Sudan, in clear violation of the UN arms embargo on Darfur. France and the UAE have a long-standing defense partnership, but France is legally bound to ensure its exports are not re-exported to Sudan. Yet, when weighing up competing foreign policy interests, many western countries seem to be deciding that picking a fight with the UAE over Sudan is not worth the hassle, asserts Mahjoub.
The UAE is applying pressure on them too. Back in April, when the UK refused to defend the UAE after Sudan’s UN representative accused it of supporting the RSF, the UAE punished Britain by cancelling four scheduled meetings with UK ministers.
It’s important to call out the UAE, says Mahjoub, because it relies heavily on its image, painting itself as a “progressive” sports leader and leading entertainment destination. It became clear that acts of public shaming hurt the country after awareness about the UAE’s involvement in Sudan’s civil war rose when US rapper Macklemore cancelled his show in Dubai over its role in the “ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis in [Sudan].”
Sanctions should be imposed on Hemetti, the general who leads the RSF, and his brother too, argues Mahjoub, who insists we must stop pretending they are politicians and call them out as warlords. And those aiding and legitimising these warlords must be held accountable too.