Desperate Measures: Colombian Mercenaries Fuel Sudan’s Brutal Proxy War
POLICY WIRE — Abu Dhabi, UAE — When men from a land as distant as Colombia suddenly appear, uniforms and arms in hand, on the battlefields of a searing African conflict, you’d think someone...
POLICY WIRE — Abu Dhabi, UAE — When men from a land as distant as Colombia suddenly appear, uniforms and arms in hand, on the battlefields of a searing African conflict, you’d think someone would notice. And people certainly have, but it seems not enough to halt the grinding machinery of proxy warfare that’s turning Sudan into an even deeper graveyard. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has dropped another bomb, reporting that the United Arab Emirates, that shimmering emirate built on oil and ambition, has been quietly training and deploying these Colombian private military contractors—mercenaries, let’s call ’em—straight into Sudan’s agonizing civil war.
It’s a brutal conflict, you see. Since April 2023, two generals, each with his own private army, have been tearing their country apart. One is the official military. The other, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a militia with roots in the Janjaweed—yes, *those* Janjaweed, notorious for Darfur’s grim ethnic cleansing back in the early 2000s. And now, supposedly, they’re getting a professional touch, courtesy of hired guns from half a world away. It’s a transaction as cold as any financial market deal: desperate men get paid, a rich state gets leverage, and an African nation bleeds.
The HRW report doesn’t mince words. It paints a picture of Colombians being whisked to the UAE, put through their paces at military facilities near Al Dhafra and Abu Dhabi itself—it’s not exactly a secret bootcamp in some obscure desert canyon. Then, presumably, they’re flown to Sudan to fight for the RSF, a group that UN experts and HRW alike say is responsible for truly unspeakable atrocities. Mausi Segun, who heads up HRW’s Africa Division, isn’t pulling punches. She says, and I’m quoting her directly, that “The recruitment of Colombian private military contractors adds to a growing body of evidence that the UAE provides military support to the Rapid Support Forces, which have repeatedly carried out heinous atrocities in Sudan.” It’s tough talk, and it’s meant to be.
The Emirati authorities, predictably, are offering blanket denials. They don’t permit their territory for such nefarious purposes, they say. Any individual or entity doing so acts without state authorization and faces prosecution, according to their Foreign Ministry’s email response to questions from the Associated Press. But here’s the kicker: A UN panel of experts, reporting last September, also flagged Colombian mercenaries operating RSF drones, artillery, and armored vehicles across wide swathes of Sudan, including Khartoum, Omdurman, and Darfur. Even RSF commander Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, known simply as Hemedti, practically confirmed it in a video earlier this year, acknowledging Colombians helped his outfit run drones. Seems those denials might need a bit more heft.
And where does this bizarre recruitment happen? An Abu Dhabi-based outfit called Global Security Services Group, apparently chaired by an Emirati national. Small world, isn’t it? HRW says this firm just clammed up when they came knocking. That silence speaks volumes, in its own way. The U.S. has even sanctioned individuals and firms in Bogotá for recruiting these fighters for the RSF, yet it hasn’t quite pointed the finger at the UAE. An interesting omission, considering the State Department has accused the RSF of widespread summary executions, ethnically motivated attacks, and sexual violence.
Consider the scale: Sudan, a large, predominantly Muslim nation, finds itself a chessboard for external players. This conflict isn’t just local; it’s a regional, if not global, concern. From the horn of Africa to the Middle East — and even South Asia, nations watch closely. Countries like Pakistan, with its own military contractors and complex ties to Gulf states, can’t help but note the dangerous precedents. When a state starts outsourcing its influence through foreign muscle—well, it changes the rules of the game for everyone.
We’re talking about lives here, a horrifying body count. ACLED, a U.S.-based tracking group, reports that at least 59,000 people have been killed in this conflict so far. That number, they warn, is almost certainly an underestimate given how chaotic things are on the ground. When the RSF stormed el-Fasher last October, experts say it bore “the hallmarks of genocide,” with some 6,000 souls extinguished in a mere three days. That’s the human cost of a proxy war waged with foreign funds — and foreign fighters.
What This Means
The revelations about UAE involvement in Sudan through Colombian mercenaries lay bare a particularly ugly facet of contemporary international relations: the privatization of proxy warfare. Economically, it signifies a booming, shadowy market where sovereignty can be bought and sold, with disastrous humanitarian consequences. It means nations with deep pockets can sidestep direct military engagement while still projecting power, complicating any semblance of accountability. This strategy leverages global economic disparities, preying on individuals desperate enough for a paycheck—up to a few thousand dollars a month—to fight in faraway lands, even against child soldiers (as one mercenary claimed he witnessed while training RSF recruits).
Politically, this implicates not only the UAE but also a wider circle of international actors. Their denials, despite compelling evidence from both human rights groups and UN experts, only erode trust in established global norms. It puts countries like the U.S. in a tough spot—they’ve sanctioned recruiters but seem hesitant to confront a key regional ally directly. But because these events destabilize not only Sudan but potentially the entire Horn of Africa and the broader Muslim world, with its already fractured geopolitics, other nations must step up. And for the rest of us, it’s a stark reminder that some conflicts aren’t about flags or ideology; they’re about influence, resources, and the cold business of war itself. The global security landscape, for all its posturing about diplomacy, increasingly runs on quiet transactions, shadow games playing out far from public view, shaping the destinies of entire populations.
