UK prioritised ties with UAE over averting mass atrocities in Sudan, MPs to be told
The British government had received intelligence that Ethiopia appeared to be supporting a genocidal militia in Sudan’s civil war as far back as 2024 but did not go public with the news for fear of upsetting the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a parliamentary committee will hear.
In May 2024, officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told Nathaniel Raymond, an American human rights investigator at Yale University, that “significant private pressure” from the UAE meant the UK would not publicly divulge information linking Ethiopia and the emirates to their support for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Ethiopia’s role in Sudan’s civil war did not become public until early this year. It continues to deny involvement.
In testimony to a parliamentary select committee on Tuesday, Raymond will allege that the UK government was more interested in preserving relations with the Emiratis than averting mass atrocities in Sudan.
The Commons international development committee is investigating the UK’s response to atrocity prevention after reports in the Guardian about the FCDO’s response to the RSF seizing the city of El Fasher, last year.
Raymond will also focus on what he describes as the UK’s “failed efforts to prevent the mass killing” of tens of thousands of people during the RSF’s genocidal massacre in El Fasher.
His testimony will include details of how a senior FCDO official attempted to downplay the huge death toll in El Fasher for “political” reasons.
After El Fasher fell to the RSF, following an 18-month siege, Raymond, director of Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL), privately briefed the international development committee that at least 60,000 civilians had been killed.
An FCDO atrocity-prevention official contacted Raymond to ask if the figure was too high.
Raymond responded that his number did not include deaths from famine or the RSF’s bombardment of the city during its siege.
“I explained the math. I stated that, in reality, the number of people that the RSF systematically killed after capturing the city could have been higher,” said Raymond in written testimony to be presented to the commitee.
“The FCDO official and I discussed numbers further. I came to believe that this estimate of at least 60,000 people killed by the RSF was a political problem for the FCDO.”
Based on three years of encrypted messages, internal meeting notes, memos and phone records between the HRL and FCDO, Raymond’s testimony will also reveal how on 26 September 2025, a British UN official “expressed despair about the lack of any possible action by the Starmer government as the city was about to fall” – amid intelligence indicating that mass atrocities were inevitable.
Raymond’s revelations of longstanding Ethiopian involvement in Sudan’s war relate to 15 May 2024, when he met FCDO officials in London and shared collated data from mobile phones inside RSF headquarters during discussions on El Fasher’s worsening predicament.
HRL had tracked handsets moving between Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, to RSF-held territory in Sudan.
Some phones, Raymond will tell the committee, moved from RSF locations to addresses in the emirates, which HRL believes were shell companies linked to the RSF’s deputy commander, Abdul Rahim Dagalo.
One phone moved to Abu Dhabi from Addis Ababa in four hours, despite no official air traffic data or scheduled commercial flights matching the route, indicating deliberate attempts to evade detection.
FCDO officials requested Raymond to publicly release the phone data analysis linking UAE-based facilities to the RSF because the UK government could not.
Raymond will tell the committee: “They told me that the UK was facing significant private pressure behind the scenes from the UAE, limiting its ability to affect the situation.
“FCDO personnel suggested that HRL releasing this information could help neutralise these efforts by UAE to prevent the UK from linking them to the armament of the RSF.”
At the time, HRL could not share the telecommunications data publicly because it would compromise sources and operational methods.
However, HRL secretly shared the data with the US to support sanctions against Dagalo-linked shell companies.
Details of Ethiopia’s involvement in the Sudanese conflict became public in February after Reuters reported that Addis Ababa was hosting a camp to train RSF fighters.
Reuters said the move was backed by Ethiopia’s close ally, the UAE.
Ethiopia rebutted the reports, as did the UAE, which has also denied repeated accusations that it funds and arms the RSF.
Raymond will tell the MPs that he believes the FCDO prioritised the UK government’s “economic, security and diplomatic relationships with the UAE above preventing the intentional starvation and genocidal slaughter of tens of thousands of civilians living in El Fasher”.
He will add the UK’s position as “penholder”, or lead country, on Sudan at the UN security council meant its role was vital.
“The UK was our best hope at that time for stopping what we believed would become one of the single largest mass-casualty events of the 21st century.”
Referring to Raymond’s evidence, Jennifer Chapman, minister for development, said: “I would be surprised if it was as simple as that, and I think there are many countries playing games in Sudan.”
She also referenced the lack of media coverage of the Sudanese conflict. “It’s an outrage. It gets nowhere near the visibility that it needs until something like El Fasher happens, and then suddenly there’s momentarily some interest.
“One of the things we should be doing and [former Cabinbet minister] Anneleise Dodds has been brilliant on this, is really trying to get this into the press, really shine a spotlight on it.
“The invisibility of this conflict is creating a permissive culture for those external actors, shall we say, to feel that they can do this and that there is no consequence.”
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
A researcher from Yale University will present evidence to a UK parliamentary committee regarding the government's response to atrocities in Sudan's ongoing civil war. The testimony centres on events from May 2024, when the researcher shared telecommunications data with UK Foreign Office officials showing coordination between the RSF militia, facilities in the UAE, and locations in Ethiopia. According to the testimony, UK officials indicated they could not publicly release this data due to pressure from the UAE, a significant diplomatic partner. The RSF subsequently captured the city of El Fasher in late 2024 following an extended siege. Casualty estimates from the city have been a point of discussion between the researcher and UK officials. Ethiopia's participation in the conflict emerged publicly in early 2025 through news reporting, though both Ethiopia and the UAE have denied the accusations. A UK government minister acknowledged the limited international attention to Sudan's conflict and noted that multiple countries have interests in the situation.
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
The British government had received intelligence that Ethiopia appeared to be supporting a genocidal militia in Sudan’s civil war as far back as 2024 but did not go public with the news for fear of upsetting the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a parliamentary committee will hear.
In May 2024, officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told Nathaniel Raymond, an American human rights investigator at Yale University, that “significant private pressure” from the UAE meant the UK would not publicly divulge information linking Ethiopia and the emirates to their support for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Ethiopia’s role in Sudan’s civil war did not become public until early this year. It continues to deny involvement.
In testimony to a parliamentary select committee on Tuesday, Raymond will allege that the UK government was more interested in preserving relations with the Emiratis than averting mass atrocities in Sudan.
The Commons international development committee is investigating the UK’s response to atrocity prevention after reports in the Guardian about the FCDO’s response to the RSF seizing the city of El Fasher, last year.
Raymond will also focus on what he describes as the UK’s “failed efforts to prevent the mass killing” of tens of thousands of people during the RSF’s genocidal massacre in El Fasher.
His testimony will include details of how a senior FCDO official attempted to downplay the huge death toll in El Fasher for “political” reasons.
After El Fasher fell to the RSF, following an 18-month siege, Raymond, director of Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL), privately briefed the international development committee that at least 60,000 civilians had been killed.
An FCDO atrocity-prevention official contacted Raymond to ask if the figure was too high.
Raymond responded that his number did not include deaths from famine or the RSF’s bombardment of the city during its siege.
“I explained the math. I stated that, in reality, the number of people that the RSF systematically killed after capturing the city could have been higher,” said Raymond in written testimony to be presented to the commitee.
“The FCDO official and I discussed numbers further. I came to believe that this estimate of at least 60,000 people killed by the RSF was a political problem for the FCDO.”
Based on three years of encrypted messages, internal meeting notes, memos and phone records between the HRL and FCDO, Raymond’s testimony will also reveal how on 26 September 2025, a British UN official “expressed despair about the lack of any possible action by the Starmer government as the city was about to fall” – amid intelligence indicating that mass atrocities were inevitable.
Raymond’s revelations of longstanding Ethiopian involvement in Sudan’s war relate to 15 May 2024, when he met FCDO officials in London and shared collated data from mobile phones inside RSF headquarters during discussions on El Fasher’s worsening predicament.
HRL had tracked handsets moving between Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, to RSF-held territory in Sudan.
Some phones, Raymond will tell the committee, moved from RSF locations to addresses in the emirates, which HRL believes were shell companies linked to the RSF’s deputy commander, Abdul Rahim Dagalo.
One phone moved to Abu Dhabi from Addis Ababa in four hours, despite no official air traffic data or scheduled commercial flights matching the route, indicating deliberate attempts to evade detection.
FCDO officials requested Raymond to publicly release the phone data analysis linking UAE-based facilities to the RSF because the UK government could not.
Raymond will tell the committee: “They told me that the UK was facing significant private pressure behind the scenes from the UAE, limiting its ability to affect the situation.
“FCDO personnel suggested that HRL releasing this information could help neutralise these efforts by UAE to prevent the UK from linking them to the armament of the RSF.”
At the time, HRL could not share the telecommunications data publicly because it would compromise sources and operational methods.
However, HRL secretly shared the data with the US to support sanctions against Dagalo-linked shell companies.
Details of Ethiopia’s involvement in the Sudanese conflict became public in February after Reuters reported that Addis Ababa was hosting a camp to train RSF fighters.
Reuters said the move was backed by Ethiopia’s close ally, the UAE.
Ethiopia rebutted the reports, as did the UAE, which has also denied repeated accusations that it funds and arms the RSF.
Raymond will tell the MPs that he believes the FCDO prioritised the UK government’s “economic, security and diplomatic relationships with the UAE above preventing the intentional starvation and genocidal slaughter of tens of thousands of civilians living in El Fasher”.
He will add the UK’s position as “penholder”, or lead country, on Sudan at the UN security council meant its role was vital.
“The UK was our best hope at that time for stopping what we believed would become one of the single largest mass-casualty events of the 21st century.”
Referring to Raymond’s evidence, Jennifer Chapman, minister for development, said: “I would be surprised if it was as simple as that, and I think there are many countries playing games in Sudan.”
She also referenced the lack of media coverage of the Sudanese conflict. “It’s an outrage. It gets nowhere near the visibility that it needs until something like El Fasher happens, and then suddenly there’s momentarily some interest.
“One of the things we should be doing and [former Cabinbet minister] Anneleise Dodds has been brilliant on this, is really trying to get this into the press, really shine a spotlight on it.
“The invisibility of this conflict is creating a permissive culture for those external actors, shall we say, to feel that they can do this and that there is no consequence.”
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
The UK Foreign Office received intelligence in 2024 indicating Ethiopian support for Sudan's RSF militia In May 2024, FCDO officials told a Yale researcher that UAE pressure prevented the UK from publicly disclosing information linking Ethiopia and the UAE to RSF support A Yale researcher provided phone tracking data to FCDO officials showing coordination between RSF locations, Addis Ababa, and UAE-based facilities The RSF captured El Fasher after an 18-month siege in late 2024 A researcher estimated at least 60,000 civilians were killed by the RSF in El Fasher, excluding deaths from siege-related bombardment and famine An FCDO official questioned the casualty figure, which the researcher interprets as treating the number as a political problem Ethiopia's involvement in Sudan's conflict became public in February 2025 through Reuters reporting on RSF training camps Ethiopia and the UAE have denied involvement in supporting the RSF The UK government prioritised its relationship with the UAE over preventing mass atrocities in Sudan The UK was the best positioned country to prevent the El Fasher mass-casualty event at the time Limited media coverage of Sudan has created space for external actors to operate without consequences
Read the full story at The Guardian ↗
- A UK human rights investigator will testify to MPs that the UK government withheld intelligence about UAE and Ethiopian support for Sudan's RSF militia due to diplomatic pressure from the UAE
- Phone data allegedly tracked RSF coordination between Ethiopia and UAE-based facilities, which the UK could not publicly disclose
- The RSF captured El Fasher after an 18-month siege, with estimates of at least 60,000 civilian deaths, which an FCDO official reportedly questioned for political reasons
- Ethiopia's involvement in Sudan's conflict became public in February 2025 via Reuters reporting on RSF fighter training camps; both Ethiopia and UAE deny involvement
- A development minister acknowledged Sudan receives insufficient media coverage and stated multiple external actors are involved in the conflict