The massacres of civilians in Sudan are being fuelled by Canadian weapons, mining interests, and refugee restrictions. It’s time for Canada to end its complicity.
As Nicholas Coghlan, Canada’s former ambassador to Sudan noted, “If the squeeze had really been put on the UAE a year ago—before they had ramped up all of the arms sales—we would not have had the genocide that is, I would say, indisputably underway in Darfur.”
The UAE is not the only foreign power fuelling this war—on the other side of the battlefield, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey are supplying weapons to the SAF. But the UAE is a major actor in the conflict, and a trade partner that Prime Minister Mark Carney is keenly courting.
To ensure that Canadian arms are not being used to commit genocide in Sudan, Gaza, and elsewhere, Canada must adopt Bill C-233, a bill proposed by NDP MP Jenny Kwan that is being debated in Parliament. The bill would close the loophole that allows arms exports to the U.S. to bypass review and enables the U.S. to divert Canadian weapons to the UAE.
To avoid fuelling the trade in conflict gold, Canada should restrict the import of gold from the UAE. With no gold mines of its own, the UAE’s gold comes largely from Africa—including Sudan, where the RSF provides the precious metal in exchange for arms and support.
