As Sudan's Agony Deepens, Scrutiny Sharpens On UAE And Gold

2025-11-05 11:06:16

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Massacres in El-Fasher pushed Sudan's war back into the global spotlight in Geneva. A Swiss NGO is drawing attention to the United Arab Emirates' booming gold trade, widely seen as a key source of funding for the conflict. This content was published on November 5, 2025 - 21:12 8 minutes

Multimedia journalist reporting for the International Geneva beat and supporting editorial quality control in the English department. Swiss-Chilean multimedia journalist with two decades of reporting experience in the US, Europe and the Middle East, with occasional assignments in South America and Africa. I enjoy investigative and long-form stories, and have also worked in breaking news and every format in between.

More from this aut
English Departm

Pauline Turuban (graphics)

The“tragedy unfolding in El-Fasher (in the west of Sudan) is not a surprise... it is the direct result of the international community's inaction,” Sudan's ambassador to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Hassan Hamid told journalists on Tuesday. He warned that“international silence has enabled genocide.”

Sudan's war erupted in April 2023 from a power struggle between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF, rooted in Darfur's Janjaweed militias, which committed genocide against civilians in Darfur two decades ago, quickly drew in heavy weapons and foreign backing. The conflict has so far killed tens of thousands, displaced over 14 million people, and driven parts of the country into famine.

The most recent battle for Darfur has become one of the war's bloodiest chapters. Last week, the RSF seized El-Fasher, the army's last stronghold in the region, after weeks of siege and killings so vast that satellite images showed blood-stained streets visible from space. Rights groups warn of ethnic massacres and starvation echoing the atrocities of Darfur's past.

In Geneva, the World Health Organization noted that more than 460 patients and their families were killed in a single hospital attack on October 28. The city's maternity hospital was hit five times the same month.

“No patient or family member should fear for their lives as they seek health care, and health workers should not risk injury or death while saving lives,” WHO head of humanitarian operations Teresa Zakaria told reporters October 31. Less than half of Sudan's health facilities remain functional.

Blood gold and the UAE

As Sudan's war grinds on, its gold keeps glinting on global markets. Bern-based NGO Swissaid warns that profits from the country's blood-soaked trade are still finding buyers, chiefly through the booming gold hub of the United Arab Emirates, which is alleged to back the RSF.

Sudanese envoy Hamid said,“The supplier of weapons to the Rapid Support Forces is well known. Unfortunately, it is the United Arab Emirates.”

The UAE's involvement in Sudan's war is complex and opaque. Abu Dhabi maintains strong economic ties with Sudan's military-led government. Yet the Sudanese army alleges the UAE has covertly supported the rival RSF, which the United States and United Nations have accused of committing war crimes.

Data from Sudan's central bank show the UAE imported about 90% of Sudan's official gold exports in the first half of 2025, underscoring its deep economic influence. A recent investigation by The SentryExternal link linked Dubai-based companies to laundering illicit Sudanese gold for RSF financiers.

The role of the Dubai gold market, one of the world's largest, in enabling illicit financial flows contributed to the UAE's placement on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list from 2022 to 2024. The FATF, which monitors global efforts to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, cited weak oversight of gold trading and free zones as major vulnerabilities. The UAE was removed from the list after introducing regulations to align with OECD standards that prohibit the import of gold linked to conflict zones.

Citing UN Comtrade data, Swissaid notes the UAE imported 29 tonnes of gold directly from Sudan in 2024, up from 17 tonnes the year before, along with major volumes routed through Egypt (27 tonnes), Chad (18) and Libya (9). These flows, Swissaid says, underscore the UAE's central role in financing Sudan's war.

“It is conflict gold,” says Marc Ummel, head of commodities at Swissaid.“Whether it is coming from RSF or from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). It's clear that they are funding their engagement in the conflict with this trade of gold, although there are other elements, gold is the key element in Sudan.”

External Content External Content

Since the oil collapse of the 2010s, Sudan's political and military elites have built a war economy on gold, carving up mines and smuggling routes between rival armies. UN experts have long pointed to the gold sector as a vital source of revenue for both sides The warring parties' economic networks are already the subject of US, EU and UN sanctions.

“The multi-billion-dollar trade of gold sustains and shapes Sudan's conflict,” concluded the London-based think tank Chatham House in a March 2025 report.

Swissaid says its latest finding confirms“the role of the UAE as a major destination of Sudanese smuggled gold,” as documented in its African Gold Report published in May 2025. The NGO said the UAE's 2024 data was briefly available on the UN Comtrade platform before being pulled down.

Swissinfo has reached out to the UAE and Comtrade for comment. Comtrade said the“data is being double-checked due to out of trends data in 2024”. The UAE is due for its next FATF review in 2026. It has publicly rejected allegations that it is providing arms or military support to any warring party in Sudan.

Swiss sanctions and the loophole problem

Switzerland, according to Swissaid,“is directly implicated” in Sudan's“problematic trade,” because it imports gold from the UAE, of which the true origin is unknown. Between January and September 2025, Switzerland imported a total of 316 tonnes of gold worth CHF27 billion from the UAE. That's more than double the annual average since 2015.

External Content

“When you look at the increase of the gold imported in Switzerland from the UAE it is really concerning,” Ummel told Swissinfo.“It is clear that we have a loophole here in the implementation of the sanctions. There is a risk that this gold has been imported in violation of the sanctions against Sudan and the Swiss authorities should investigate this.”

Switzerland has progressively updated its sanctions framework on Sudan to align with evolving UN Security Council resolutions and to tighten oversight of financial and arms-related flows.

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) notes that all gold importers in Switzerland are legally required to perform due diligence when sourcing from conflict-affected or high-risk areas to ensure their supply chains do not finance armed conflict.

But SECO“cannot guarantee with certainty the origin of gold imported into Switzerland.”

A gold worker uses a blowtorch to separate mercury residue from gold at the gold market in Atbara, Sudan. Giles Clarke / Getty Images Greater transparency in 2026?

Switzerland's reporting dynamics are set to change.

The Swiss Precious Metals Association (ASMP) plans to introduce a public register in 2026 disclosing more information about the origin of metals processed here. Ummel warns the measure will have limited impact because Valcambi, a Switzerland-based refinery, which sources gold from the UAE, left the association, meaning its data won't make the register.

Valcambin COO Simone Knobloch says the refinery has“had responsible sourcing procedures in place for decades” to prevent illegitimate gold of dubious origin from entering its supply chain, including from the UAE. The refinery only accepts shipments from two approved UAE refineries, verified annually and tracked through“a solution that allows us to store the details of subcontractors in a software that, thanks to a blockchain, 'freezes' the data of supplies received from approved refineries.”

All major Swiss refineries, including Valcambi and Metalor, are members of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). This requires compliance with OECD due diligence standards. Yet Swissaid warns that gaps in traceability, due diligence and transparency remain. The European Commission has also raised due diligence concerns over the standard.

Edited by Virginie Mangin

Image research by Vera Leysinger