Sudanese refugees in Chad have reportedly rejected humanitarian aid from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), calling on the country to cease its alleged military support for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to a refugee who spoke to Sudanese media.
The UAE’s Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Political Affairs, Lana Nusseibeh, visited Chad on Friday and saw a field hospital in Abéché that was constructed with funding from the UAE to care for Sudanese refugees.
“Around 100 refugees met with Nusseibeh at the UNHCRheadquarters in Abéché and informed her of their categorical refusal of any humanitarian aid provided by the UAE,” the refugee representative, who asked to remain anonymous, told the media.
A video circulating on Sudanese social media shows a refugee urging Nusseibeh to convey a message to UAE leaders, stating that the UAE could help end the violence.
A scheduled visit to the border town of Adré was apparently canceled by Nusseibeh because of concerns about more protests.
The UAE disputes accusations made by the Sudanese army that it supplied military equipment to the RSF through Chad, the Central African Republic, and Libya. Since April, more than 4 million people have been displaced by the fighting between the army and the RSF, with over 600,000 of those affected fleeing to Chad.
In August, worsening conditions and a lack of supplies in Chad prompted hundreds of refugees to begin returning to Sudan.
