Development Discourse with Amos Safo: The United Arab Emirates leads Arab neocolonialism in Sudan

Judging from the ongoing genocide of indigenous Sudanese by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), it makes sense to support the global advocacy to boycott anything associated with the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Several security and political analysts have accused Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan ruler of the UAE of financing and arming the RSF to destroy Sudan and its population. “The ruler of the UAE is responsible for every lost soul and every drop of blood, especially the blood of women and children”, one analyst posted on social media.

Many social justice campaigners insist that only a boycott of everything associated with the UAE brand will compel the ruler of UAE to stop his wicked agenda against indigenous Sudanese. To stop this agenda, well-meaning Africans and Africans in the diaspora should consider severing diplomatic and trade relations with the UAE. This will compel them to stop supplying money and guns to RSF rebels.

In March 2022, the beleaguered and embattled government of Sudan took UAE to the International Criminal Court to compel UAE to stop financing and supplying arms to the RSF cause genocide. Currently, the case is still pending at the International Court, as the whole world watches the UAE- backed RSF to continue inflicting torture and pain on unarmed men, and women and children. If it had been any African country suspected of committing less crimes the International Court would have expeditiously concluded the case and found that country guilty of human rights abuse. This hasty verdict would then be sufficient justification for western countries to invade that country. In the case of Sudan, the UAE backed RSF have been given the licence to kill, hang and rape women and children.

Women and children

Several videos I watched from the battle ground of Al-Fashir revealed gory and unforgivable scenes of women and children being raped and shot in broad daylight.  Some families are reported to have been wiped out by warring factions. In a video, an abandoned Sudanese child who probably lost his entire family appealed to his fellow Muslims (Ya Muslimi) to rescue the children of Sudan. With tears streaming down his cheeks and stomach, the plight of the boy and his colleagues epitomize the inhuman state of our current, uncaring and ungodly world. In the current world people fighting for political power and control over natural resources do not spare children. The boy’s cry for help reminded me of the cry of Ishmail in the desert, which drew instant response from God.

In another video a woman with her three little children were captured in a very precarious situation, looking hungry, thirsty and wearied from the sound of gun shots and bombs. With every second, the woman clogged her ears with her hands, perhaps, to stop hearing the sound of weapons that are being used to exterminate entire families.

What is happening in Sudan is an extraordinary war crime against humanity, especially women and children. The world cannot pretend that Sudan does not need intervention. Recent reports affirm that more than 2,000 people mostly women and children have been killed and are still being killed by the warring factions. These killings and executions occurred within 48 hours of the RSF gaining control of Al-Fashir from the weakened Sudanese army. Thanks to postings by citizen journalists and bloggers, blood stains have been seen on walls, trees and roads of Al-Fashir.

From the videos I watched, the streets of Al-Fashir are littered with dead bodies, including those of women and children. The ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing in Sudan are the same, if not more than what is happening in Gaza; yet, while the people of Gaza are receiving international support and solidarity, the people of Sudan have been neglected by the same international community. This is selective sympathy or at best hypocrisy and discrimination.

Proxy war

On both television and social media, RSF rebels have been captured flaunting their sophisticated weapons allegedly supplied by UAE for the world to see. Yet, the global community, especially western superpowers have been quiet over the ongoing cleansing of indigenous Sudanese. The hypocrisy and double standards of global leaders is too glaring. Henceforth, they have no moral authority to talk about human rights abuses anywhere.

The civil war of better call it a religious or ethnic war has been ongoing for two years between the Sudanese army and RSF. Both sides have been fighting to control Al-Fashir, a strategic city. A few weeks ago, the RSF forces with superior weapons and financial backing from UAE captured Al-Fashir.

One would have thought after gaining control, RSF would have protected civilians or created an avenue for them to leave the town. Rather, and against logical reasoning, RSF fighters started a deliberate annihilation of unarmed men, women and children, in the full glare of the world. The atrocities included summary executions, sexual violence against women and children and burning of houses. In another video RSF forces who killed a woman taunted her dead body, saying “get up if you can.”

Acting with impunity

According to details from the World Health Orgnaisation (WHO) a staggering 460 people, including patients and staff were killed at one hospital. Another 2000 people were stranded in Al-Fashir the centre of the recent escalations. This explains why the United Nations and other INGOs aptly described the situation in Sudan as the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis in recent memory.

The Sudan situation is also the world’s biggest displacement and complex emergency of recent memory, with the survivors facing hunger, unending violence, torture and starvation. In areas where the fighting is heavy and there are no routes for escape, people are eating grass like animals.

The current war started 20 years when the Janjaweed Arab militia, which metamorphosed to the RSF committed a similar genocide against the indigenous people of Sudan, without anyone raising eyebrows. The Africa Union, the European Union, the United States of America and even the United Nations failed to condemn the gruesome act. Once they acted with impunity and received no penalty, they were emboldened to commit more atrocities with the support of UAE and other Arab countries.

Unfortunately, both the Sudanese army and RSF rebels are Africans who have allowed Arabs to pit them against each other. Ironically, the RSF fell they are more Arab than being Africans. They are therefore fighting a proxy war on behalf of their Arab masters.  That is the highest level of mental slavery. Why will country’s military or rebels turn their guns on their own mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters?

New neocolonialist

Over the years, UAE has emerged as the new Arab neocolonialist, whose hunger for gold is driving the destruction of Sudan, including the killing and maiming women and children. Why has the UAE suddenly become one of the world’s biggest custodians of gold reserves although it has no single gold mine? Critics have pointed out that UAE has over the years become the destination for gold from conflict-prone Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger until the current military rule seized power.

Historically, Arab and European countries have taken turns to destroy the Sudanese civilization. At a point in history Egypt and Britain jointly colonized Sudan and disintegrated it for their selfish interests. For the records, the Arab colonialists were the first to invade and enslaved Africans before western colonialists arrived centuries later.  Little wonder that the UAE has taken over what Egypt and Britain did to Sudan. Past and current colonialists had a common purpose to weaken Sudan and to steal its oil and gold.

AU is irrelevant

The notion that the Africa Union is a dead organization is gaining legitimacy, because of the unwillingness or the inability of African Heads of State to rise to the defence of the continent from neocolonialists and imperialists. Not only is the AU’s silence over the Sudan disturbing, but it also indicates the lack of vision and muzzles to break the colonial chains holding Africa down. When Russian attacked Ukraine in 2022, the EU did not only condemn the invasion, but they provided military weapons running into billions of dollars. That is how a proper union, with bold leaders is supposed to act to protect one of its members under siege like Sudan.

AU leaders must wean themselves from organizing unproductive meetings, giving long and visionless speeches and dozing off in between meetings. They often returned to their countries without concrete actions on how to rescue African from neocolonialism; and how to break the cycle of poverty. African youth, the academia and professionals should initiate progress actions to compel their docile leaders to wake up from their slumber.

When will our leaders prove that they have two balls between their legs and stand up against a world system, whose sole aim is to destroy and pillage Africa’s natural resources. In addition, Africans and Africans in diaspora need to mobilise international opinion to call UAE to order.

In a nutshell the AU’s silence over the incessant foreign interference aimed at keeping Africa underdeveloped is a shame. Increasingly, our leaders are increasingly pandering to the interest of their western and Arab masters, while their countries and economies are bleeding and being exploited by foreign interests.

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