UK Chose Low-Cost Sudan Plan Despite Mass Killing Risks

By Staff, Agencies

The British government opted against a more robust civilian protection strategy for Sudan despite internal warnings that the city of El Fasher risked falling to the UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces [RSF] and facing mass atrocities, a report reviewed by The Guardian revealed.

Officials inside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office [FCDO] considered four responses to prevent violence during El Fasher’s 18-month siege, including an international mechanism to protect civilians from mass atrocities.

However, citing funding and staffing limits, officials opted for the “least ambitious” plan, redirecting £10 million in aid to groups like the Red Cross. The city later fell to the RSF, accused of ethnic killings, rapes, and forced disappearances, leaving thousands unaccounted for.

Shayna Lewis, a Sudan analyst with the US-based organization Paema, told The Guardian that the UK’s choice reflected a lack of political will rather than a lack of awareness.

“Atrocities are not natural disasters – they are a political choice that are preventable if there is political will,” she said, calling the UK “complicit in the ongoing genocide of the people of Darfur.”

The Sudanese conflict has fueled what the UN calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with sexual violence particularly widespread in areas seized by the RSF.

The decision was highlighted in an independent review by the UK’s aid spending watchdog, which found that financial cuts had weakened Britain’s ability to push for atrocity prevention, especially programs focused on protecting women and girls.

A proposed initiative supporting Sudanese women is now delayed until at least 2026.

Sarah Champion, chair of the UK parliament’s international development committee, criticized the prioritization of cost savings over preventive action.

“Prevention and early intervention should be core to all FCDO work, but sadly they are often seen as a ‘nice to have’,” she said.

Meanwhile, British officials defended their record, citing over £120 million in aid and their UN Security Council “penholder” role, pledging RSF leaders would be held accountable.

However, the review concluded that while the UK had demonstrated “credible leadership", its influence was ultimately “constrained by inconsistent political attention” during the period leading up to El Fasher’s fall.

Moreover, last year, the UK blocked criticism of the UAE’s support for the RSF, which the UAE denied, calling the allegations “baseless” and a distraction from Sudan’s humanitarian crisis.

The fighting in Sudan broke out in April 2023 between the regular army, headed by its leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces [RSF] led by his former deputy, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.