HRW alleges UAE was transit point for Colombian mercenaries heading to Sudan

Human Rights Watch has alleged that Colombian mercenaries were recruited by a United Arab Emirates-based company and moved through Emirati military bases on their way to support Rapid Support Forces fighters in Sudan. The rights group said the men were then deployed to the Darfur region, where the RSF now holds much of the territory. The UAE has denied allowing its territory to be used for the recruitment, training, financing or transit of foreign fighters to any conflict, including Sudan.

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The allegations were published on 26 May and are based on interviews with Colombian mercenaries carried out between March and September 2025, along with an analysis of social media posts that the group says identified locations and weapons seen in videos and images. One mercenary told the organisation that passports were not stamped during the journey through Abu Dhabi and that a bus was waiting to take the group to a military base. The report also says airports in the UAE, Libya, Chad and Somalia were used as transit points before the fighters reached the front lines.

The rights group said the findings add to evidence of support for the RSF, which has been accused of war crimes during Sudan's civil war. It said the mercenaries were recruited through a network of Colombian and Emirati companies advertising drone pilot work in Africa and targeting former Colombian army personnel. The alleged role of the UAE-based company is central to the report, which says the contractors were sent to provide tactical and technical expertise, including serving as infantry and artillerymen, drone pilots and vehicle operators.

The allegations matter because Sudan's war has become one of the world's largest displacement crises and has drawn in regional actors through arms, money and cross-border movement of fighters. War broke out on 15 April 2023 after rising tension between the RSF and the Sudanese army. Since then, more than 150,000 people are believed to have died and more than 12.9 million have been displaced, according to the figures cited in the report.

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The report follows earlier research by the Conflict Insights Group, which also highlighted alleged involvement of Colombian mercenaries in Darfur. That western region is now largely held by the RSF, making it a key theatre in the conflict. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has previously described mercenaries as "spectres of death" and called their recruitment a form of human trafficking.

What remains unclear is the full extent of any official or private-sector involvement in the alleged transit network, and whether the companies named in the report will respond publicly. The UAE has rejected the accusations, and the report does not establish criminal liability. The next developments to watch are any further evidence from investigators, possible responses from the companies mentioned, and whether the allegations prompt diplomatic pressure over foreign fighters in Sudan.

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