DIPLOMACY REPORT

· In this week’s diplomacy developments, Sudan’s ambassador to the UN provided evidence in accusing the UAE of supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia at a UN Security Council session.

· There were also reports of the UAE using its influence over UN Security Council members to prevent Sudan’s grievances being discussed.

· The UN Security Council’s resolution to end the RSF’s siege on Al-Fashir was criticised for coming too late and not calling out the UAE.

· Analysts downplayed the impact of Sudan’s weapons agreement with Russia.

· Racism, the both sides narrative and physical numbing have been argued to be factors for the world “overlooking” Sudan’s crisis.

Sudan confronts the UAE at the UN security council

Multiple sources (18 June) reported that, in a UN Security Council (UNSC) session, Sudan’s ambassador to the UN, Al-Harith Idriss, accused the UAE of providing weapons to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia. "The military aggression launched by the RSF, supported with weapons by the Emirates, is deliberately and systematically targeting the villages and cities," Idriss said.

"The UAE must stay away from Sudan! That is the first requirement that will allow for stability in Sudan. It must stop its support,” Idriss added.

Idriss accused the UAE of assisting RSF forces through militias in Chad, southern Libya and central Africa, adding that Sudan has submitted copies of a half dozen UAE passports found on the battlefield in Khartoum to the council to back up their claims of Emirati interference. He also said that wounded RSF fighters are being airlifted to Dubai for medical treatment.

Idriss further accused on the UAE of using its influence on the UNSC to avoid accountability for supporting the militia. As reported by PassBlue (15 June), a woman-led media company covering the UN, when the UAE was an elected member of the UNSC from January 2022 to December 2023 it “kept Sudan off the agenda”. Sudan’s requests for open emergency meetings in April and May 2024 were rebuffed by monthly rotating presidents Malta and Mozambique respectively, who held private consultations meaning Idriss could not participate.

Malta said it was because the Sudanese ambassador sent his request in Arabic. PassBlue note that the UNSC has no written rule on language requirements. Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Africa Programme, said: “we have underestimated the destructive and irresponsible power of the UAE [who] used the fact that it controls five major ports in Mozambique to make sure that Mozambique did not host a meeting investigating allegations against the UAE.”

Criticism of the UN Security Council resolution

PassBlue’s (15 June) article carried criticisms of the UN Security Council resolution to end the RSF siege on al-Fashir. Cameron Hudson said it “comes much too late to save many [who have and] will die because of the existing conditions.” PassBlue noted that the resolution did not call out the UAE, who Sudan’s government say has provided weapons used to displace and kill predominantly non-Arab groups and rape hundreds of women.

Russia

DW’s (16 June) feature piece on Sudan’s agreement to allow Russia to build a naval base on the Red Sea in exchange for weapons carried insights from analysts who expressed uncertainty that the Sudanese army will get the support it seeks.

Political scientist Andreas Heinemann-Grüder from the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies said it is unknown what weapons Russia has offered, noting Russian skepticism when the Sudanese army previously wanted fighter aircraft and air defence missiles.

Hager Ali of the German Institute for Global and Area Studies said “Russia holds good card in the negotiations,” as “the longer the conflict lasts, the more weapons [the army] needs. That is particularly true of the Sudanese air force, which has to operate in remote regions”. Ali adds that the same applies to diesel fuel, which has long been in short supply, noting that Russia may now deliver it through its base in Sudan rather than through Chad via the Wagner militia.

The global neglect of Sudan

In this week’s analysis, various factors were provided for why Sudan’s war is being “overlooked”, ranging from numbing to racism to the “both sides narrative”.

Physic numbing

Melissa Fleming, the under-secretary-general for global communications at the UN, attributed the lack of attention to psychic numbing," which refers to “the sad reality that people feel more apathetic towards a tragedy as the number of victims increases”. DW (14 June) add that “research has previously shown that civil wars — especially those seen as internal matters in a faraway country — get less attention than conflicts where one country attacks another”.

Racism

Mohanad Elbalal, the co-founder of Khartoum Aid Kitchen, a crowdfunded campaign to support community kitchens in Sudan,” told Slate (19 June) “there’s a feeling that prejudices – [that this is just Africans killing Africans] might lead people to care less” about Sudan. Similarly, Sudan expert Roman Deckert noted “a deeply ingrained, potentially even subconscious, racism or Eurocentrism…where outsiders incorrectly perceive the fighting as somehow ‘uncivilized’ or ‘typical’".

“Both sides narrative”

In addition, Deckert attributed the lack of attention on Sudan to the “complexity of the situation, where neither side is obviously ‘good or evil’" (DW, 14 June).