Today's Edition
KIRSTIN BERNABE (ABU DHABI)
While the UAE is open to the world, Sudan is among the countries that have always had a special place in the Emirates. With over 50 years of bilateral relations, the two nations share a rich history of cooperation, spanning economic affairs and cultural exchange.
In the face of the ongoing crisis in Sudan, the UAE has remained steadfast in its support, consistently providing humanitarian aid — reaching $3.5 billion and counting — and firmly calling for an end to a war that has ravaged homes, destroyed livelihoods, and claimed innocent lives.
Time and again, the UAE has assured the Sudanese people of its unwavering support — a pledge anchored on ties marked by “sincere national feelings”, as described by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, during a Sudanese festival held in Dubai in 2024.
This sincerity dates back to the very beginning of bilateral relations. Sudan was one of the first countries with which the UAE established diplomatic ties following its formation in December 1971. Less than three months after the Union, on February 20, 1972, the UAE’s Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, made his first official visit to Sudan, touring every state in the Northeast African nation.
As trade and investments flowed in, relations deepened, extending into sports, culture, and the arts. Thousands of Sudanese nationals made the UAE their second home, becoming an integral part of society — “a testament to the deep-rooted relations between our two countries”, as the UAE stated in a June 2024 message to the UN Security Council.
The expat community flourished and so did the cultural exchange, with events like art festivals taking place throughout the UAE.
In 2024, more than 4,000 people turned up for a festival held in Dubai to celebrate Sudanese culture and heritage.
The event — the ‘Sudan in the Heart of the UAE’ fest in May 2024 — “represented important human communication between Sudan and the UAE, and a strong sense of pride in the close fraternal relations that bind the two beloved countries,” as Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak stated in his address to the crowd.
“The strong relationship between the UAE and Sudan is, in essence, a deep-rooted and renewed relationship, a relationship based on the ideal values and common principles that we are proud of together, which include: the values of love for the homeland, pride in the Arab and Islamic nation, as well as the values of mutual respect and the continuous and relentless pursuit of goodness, peace and security for both countries,” he said.
The success of the festival, he added, reflected “a strong bond that embodies the sincere national feelings that we feel together, uniting us and making us work together … for the advancement of the Arab nation as a whole.”
The devastating impact of the current crisis in Sudan goes beyond its borders - it’s strongly felt in the large community of Sudanese expats in the Emirates, the UAE said in its UN statement last June.
“The Sudanese people deserve justice and peace; they need an immediate ceasefire, the unhindered flow of humanitarian aid, and a credible political process,” it said.
