UK could be in breach of its own arms export rules over Sudan war, MPs hear

Reports have emerged of British military equipment being found on the battlefield in Sudan, used by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group accused of genocide.

Documents seen by the UN Security Council have raised questions over the export of UK arms to the United Arab Emirates, which has been accused of supplying weapons to the RSF. The UAE denies the allegations.

There is deep concern for hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in El Fasher, in the Darfur region of Sudan, after the RSF said it had captured the city following a siege lasting more than a year.

The UK Government condemned on Monday the “disturbing pattern of abuses in El Fasher – including systemic killings, torture and sexual violence”, including “rape as a weapon of war”.

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Two former international development ministers, Labour’s Anneliese Dodds and the Conservatives’ Andrew Mitchell, have called on the Government to act to prevent a massacre.

Development minister Baroness Jenny Chapman said the UK must redouble action to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.

“The need is just vast and it’s getting worse,” she told an International Development Committee hearing on Tuesday.

“I wish that we could do a lot more, but I think the right thing to do is first to continue to work with our partners and to try to co-ordinate internationally.

“I’ve had many meetings with international partners where we discussed Sudan and how we can work more closely together.

“I think the scale of the need and the atrocities that we’re now seeing do mean that we have to revisit what we’re doing. We need to redouble our efforts.

“And I think particularly when it comes to services for women and girls, particularly when it comes to the situation of famine that we’re seeing, I think there is a strong need for us to work, particularly through the World Food Programme and Unicef, to look at what more we can do internationally.”

She added that “tragically” prevention seems to be “beyond the international community’s ability at the moment”, but “we continue to use what few levers there are to influence the warring parties to try to come to some kind of process where these things are resolved in a completely different way”.

Liberal Democrat MP Charlie Maynard (Witney) raised the issue of the UK’s arms exports to the UAE, and concerns that the weapons are being supplied to the RSF, in Foreign Office questions in the Commons.

He said: “It’s been widely reported in the press that the United Arab Emirates is arming the RSF in Sudan.

“The RSF is one of the two warring factions in Sudan, and was found by the UN to be responsible for crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, enslavement, rape and sexual violence.

“As per the UK Government’s export data, the UK exported nearly three-quarters of a billion pounds worth of arms to the UAE via single export individual export licence (SIEL) between 2019 and 2023.

“If the UAE is indeed arming the RSF, the UK is breaching its arms export licensing criteria, specifically criteria 1f, 246 and 247.

“Importantly, these criteria look beyond considering whether the UK-exported weapons ultimately reached Sudan. They instead consider the UK’s international obligations.”

He called on the Government to verify whether the UAE is arming the RSF and to “cease all arms shipments to the UAE until it is proven that the UAE is not arming the RSF”.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “First of all, as he will know, the UK has extremely strong controls on arms exports, including to prevent any diversion, and that remains important. We will continue to take that immensely seriously.

“Secondly, we need all countries with influence in the region to push the RSF and also the SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces) to ensure the protection of civilians.

“There are real deep concerns about atrocities in Sudan, including sexual violence and the use of rape as a weapon of war.

“He will be aware of the new work being done through the Quad of countries – the US, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt – who have condemned the violence and called for an end to external support for the warring parties. We are pressing for the urgent implementation of this.”

She added that she “strongly condemns the escalating violence in El Fasher and the very grave reports of civilian casualties and suffering”.

Ms Cooper told MPs she has held meetings and discussions, including at the UN General Assembly and since, with “a series of countries”, including the UAE, calling for a ceasefire.

Oliver Feeley-Sprague, Amnesty International UK’s military, security and policing director, said the Government approving arms sales to the UAE “raises questions about the UK’s potential complicity in mass atrocities”.

He told the PA news agency: “To describe the UK’s arms licensing system as ‘robust’ while UK-made components have been found in weapons used by forces responsible for the widespread killings of civilians in Sudan is frankly indefensible.

“The UK’s own arms trade rules require it to stop the supply of weapons where there is a clear risk those weapons could be diverted to countries under arms embargo or used by end-users to commit or facilitate atrocities.

“The UAE has been a known hub for arms diversion for years and the UK Government has long been aware of weapons being routed through the Emirates to conflict zones like Sudan and Libya.

“Yet the UK kept approving arms sales to the UAE, even when the risks were staring it in the face. This raises serious questions about the UK’s potential complicity in mass atrocities.

“In 2022, the UK Government promised to close this loophole by tightening export controls on parts like engines that could end up in military use in prohibited countries. Finding UK-made engines in Sudanese military vehicles shows exactly why those rules were needed and casts serious doubt about whether they’re being properly implemented or enforced.

“The Government must immediately suspend all arms to the UAE. It must also prove that, in light of this evidence, it has launched a full investigation into how this equipment ended up in Sudan, notified the UK company in line with its own enhanced military end-use controls, and taken firm immediate action to stop this from happening again.”