Following a classified congressional briefing in Washington, Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen called on the federal administration to freeze weapons transfers to the United Arab Emirates over its persistent support for a Sudanese paramilitary faction accused of genocide.
Van Hollen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, argued that the American government should leverage its defense shipments to compel Abu Dhabi to discontinue backing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The ongoing battle between the RSF and the Sudanese army has created what global monitors class among the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.
The lawmaker pointed out that Washington officially classified the “murderous” RSF as perpetrators of genocide in Sudan. He highlighted previous atrocities in El Fasher, where the group slaughtered roughly 6,000 individuals across three days last October, while cautioning that a comparable disaster is currently unfolding around the besieged city of El Obeid. According to Van Hollen, approximately 500,000 residents in El Obeid face extreme risk as paramilitary forces encircle the municipality.
To address the situation, Van Hollen joined 20 Senate colleagues in demanding that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administration attach strict conditions to weapons deals with the Gulf nation. He emphasized their appeal to Rubio to state clearly that officials will “pause U.S. arms sales to the UAE so long as they are arming this murderous, genocidal group, the RSF. It’s a simple thing we, the United States, can do to prevent a massacre in Sudan.”
Although Washington serves as a primary provider of defense equipment to the UAE, Abu Dhabi continues to face international criticism for its alleged financial and military supply lines to the RSF.
You can watch Senator Chris Van Hollen speak on the Senate floor about the legislation in this Senate Floor Speech on UAE Arms Sales and Sudan. This video is relevant because it shows Senator Van Hollen directly addressing Congress to call for an end to UAE weapons transfers over their involvement in the Sudan conflict.
