DubaiSwissaid counts 591 tonnes of illicit gold imported by the UAE.
Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, through their trading firm al-Junaid, smuggle gold from areas they hold into Dubai.
Gold crosses into Egypt, Ethiopia or Chad, then almost always ships to the UAE as an official export.
Abu Dhabi says its involvement in Sudan is purely humanitarian.
Switzerland, the world’s largest gold hub, is the main importer of the UAE’s gold.
How each outlet framed it
- Middle East Eye leans critical
- quantifies 591 tonnes of illicit gold imported in 2024 and names Yemen, Sudan and Russia as conflict-gold sources
Sources: Middle East Eye