Calls and demands are growing for the United Arab Emirates to be re-included in the Financial Action Task Force’s Grey List following the events that took place in Al-Fashir in the Darfur region of Sudan. The UAE is the main weapons supplier and financier of the Rapid Support Forces that have committed the acts of ethnic cleansing in Al-Fashir.
The UAE was removed from the Grey List last year after the UAE adopted an action plan by the FATF to improve its anti-money laundering regulation and practices. Apart from updating laws and introducing AML processes to banks, the UAE also banned some gold refiners.
The FATF has received a lot of criticism for delisting the UAE from its Grey List: Transparency International called the decision “premature”. The Anti-Money Laundering Network also called on the European Union to reverse its decision to remove the UAE from its list of high-risk third country. The EU’s decision followed the FATF’s and the AML Network said that this decision risked threatening the EU’s financial stability. It also described the UAE as a facilitator of sanctions busting for Russia, Iran and home to international finance networks of political corruption and crime that also facilitates international drug networks.
There is extensive and recorded evidence of the UAE supplying arms to the RSF by multiple and different sources.
The UAE has also been used as a money-laundering hub for Malta’s corrupt politicians and most notorious criminals.
Newsroom
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