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 . Nathaniel Raymond’s testimony will say a senior FCDO official attempted to downplay El Fasher’s death toll for ‘political’ reasons. Photograph: Lev Radin/Alamy 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. …