{"id":20122412,"date":"2025-11-02T15:19:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T14:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20122412"},"modified":"2025-11-02T17:38:39","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T16:38:39","slug":"demo-claiming-uk-uae-involvement-in-sudan-war-blocks-british-pms-residence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/demo-claiming-uk-uae-involvement-in-sudan-war-blocks-british-pms-residence","title":{"rendered":"Demo claiming \u2018UK\u2013UAE involvement\u2019 in Sudan war blocks British PM\u2019s residence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Report by Amgad Abdelgadir<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Traffic outside the official residence of the British Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, at 10 Downing Street in central London ground to a stop on Wednesday evening as pro-Sudan protesters shut down Whitehall, home to several UK Ministries including the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence. Demonstrators later confronted MPs at a nearby restaurant, in a pointed indictment of what they call \u2018Britain\u2019s material complicity in atrocities unfolding in Sudan\u2019s besieged city of El Fasher\u2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What began as a stationary protest turned into a march to the Foreign Office and then a stand-off outside a restaurant where MPs dined behind glass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protesters lifted placards accusing Britain of \u201cfunding genocide\u201d through arms sales to the UAE, an alleged backer of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Protesters stand together in the road as vehicles grind to a halt in central London (Photo: Amgad Abdelgadir \/ RD)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cWe were chanting outside, and we could see them eating through the windows. It was dystopian, honestly. While you\u2019re eating, bombs are dropping, that was the message. Even if they only hear us for a second, they know: we’re demanding a free Sudan,\u201d said an organiser with London for Sudan, who asked not to be named.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is the most intense action London for Sudan has taken, and it\u2019s because El Fasher is urgent<\/a>. There has to be escalation at every level, political, community, fundraising, and media,\u201d the organiser added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Darfur\u2019s capital of El Fasher<\/a> has endured nearly 18 months under siege, with hospitals attacked, food routes cut, and civilians executed. UN agencies warn famine is imminent; Sudanese activists say it has already arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c2,000 people have been killed in just three days. El Fasher<\/a> is under siege; there’s stage-five famine. People don\u2019t even have energy to cry, tears take energy they don\u2019t have,\u201d said 19-year-old organiser Ziyad Kashan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo water, no electricity, no internet. People are being shot as they flee. El Fasher sheltered people who escaped genocide 20 years ago, now they’re facing another genocide,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018UK complicity\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rage in Westminster centred on revelations that UK-made weapons have ended up with RSF fighters, routed through the UAE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAn investigation by The Guardian<\/em><\/a> just showed that a UK weapons manufacturer in Wales had arms ending up with the RSF, routed through the UAE since 2013,\u201d Kashan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe UK has sold \u00a3417m in weapons to the UAE despite UN evidence that the UAE backs the RSF. And yet, UK officials still prioritise meetings with UAE leadership. That says everything,\u201d the young protester went on to declare.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A protester holds a sign urging a boycott of Emirati gold and tourism, referencing allegations that UAE gold imports are fuelling the conflict in Sudan (Photo: Amgad Abdelgadir \/ RD)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Another protester, Waleed Elgadi, said \u201cEnough. Khalas [Arabic for \u2018stop\u2019]. Sudanese people have suffered too long. People in Darfur went through this 20 years ago, they\u2019re facing it again. The cycle keeps repeating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you’re in the UK, you are complicit in this war, not through soldiers, but through funding. The UK even funded RSF units in the past to stop migration to Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elgadi, referring to alleged pre-war RSF abuses in Sudan, highlighted their role under the EU-supported Khartoum Process from 2016-2019, where they were tasked with patrolling borders, particularly with Libya, to curb migration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Forced Migration Review<\/a>, they often exploited this position for profit, including human trafficking and sexual exploitation, raising concerns that EU funding may inadvertently enable such abuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Protesters gather in the middle of the street, halting traffic near Downing Street (Photo: Amgad Abdelgadir \/ RD)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The protest also drew supporters beyond the Sudanese community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m here as a Palestinian. Sudanese brothers and sisters marched for Gaza, we stand for them too. The genocide in Sudan is no less urgent,\u201d Amro, a Palestinian protester, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking about UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Amro declared, \u201cHe has turned the UK Labour Party into the \u2018genocide party\u2019 and the UK is supplying weapons to regimes committing atrocities<\/a> across the world in Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gaza.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will not let Sudan be forgotten,\u201d he vowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For organiser Tasneem Farah, the crisis in Sudan underscores the need for international awareness and action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSudan is the world\u2019s largest humanitarian crisis. What\u2019s happening in El Fasher, Kordofan, the Nuba Mountains across the country is horrific,\u201d Farah said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe UK and UAE are materially complicit, financially, militarily,\u201d she said, adding that they also push narratives that make it easy for people not to care.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A demonstrator chants \u201cRSF, you can\u2019t hide, we charge you with genocide\u201d as protesters gather outside No. 10 Downing Street<\/em>
(Photo: Amgad Abdelgadir \/ RD)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cSudan has collapsed, infrastructure, education, everything,\u201d she emphasised, noting that rebuilding requires real commitment and real resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the protest\u2019s end, the anonymous organiser reflected on why they refused to stay quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople need to understand what’s happening, not just in El Fasher but across Darfur and Sudan. Our role is to amplify and not let Sudan be forgotten,\u201d the organiser declared.<\/p>\n