UAE’s Recruitment of Colombian Teenage Mercenaries for Sudan War

🔍 Introduction: A War Fueled by Foreign Powers

Sudan’s brutal civil war has evolved into a global proxy conflict, with a new and disturbing revelation: teenage Colombian mercenaries are being sent to fight in Sudan under the sponsorship of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The story, spanning continents from Colombia to Abu Dhabi to Darfur, sheds light on a modern mercenary network operating in the shadows of global diplomacy.

🇦🇪 The UAE’s Mercenary Network

The UAE has long faced allegations of arming and financing Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). But the latest revelations go further: private Emirati security firms, particularly Global Security Services Group (GSSG) based in Abu Dhabi, are accused of:

• Luring young Colombians—some as young as 19—into mercenary contracts under false pretenses.
• Promising high-paying “security jobs” in the UAE, only to redirect them into RSF-controlled Sudanese territory.
• Confiscating passports and phones upon arrival, coercing the recruits into silence and obedience.

👦🏽 “Just Boys”: Teenagers on the Frontline

According to testimony from mercenaries:

• Many recruits were barely out of national service, with no knowledge they’d be deployed to Sudan.
• Recruits were told they’d protect oil sites or hotels, not join a warzone.
• Upon arrival, they were driven across the desert from Libya or Somalia into RSF camps in Darfur.

Once in Sudan, they:

• Trained child soldiers—a violation of international law.
• Fought on the frontlines in key battles in El Fasher, Nyala, and Kordofan.
• Performed specialized roles like drone operations, communications, and jamming.

💀 Abandoned and Deceived

At least 20 Colombian fighters have died, their bodies left unclaimed in Sudanese morgues. Their families, often misled or threatened, struggle to confirm their whereabouts.

• Families were told not to contact media, or their sons would not be returned.
• Salaries were delayed or docked arbitrarily.
• Those who wished to leave were told to pay their own way out—an impossible burden in a war zone.

🛑 Human Trafficking in the Shadows of Diplomacy

This practice is not only unethical—it resembles modern slavery and war crimes:

• The recruitment and deployment of minors into active conflict.
• The use of deception and coercion to force combat participation.
• Direct involvement of UAE-linked firms in managing mercenaries and supplying a belligerent faction.

The Sudanese Army claims it has retrieved official Colombian identity documents from fallen RSF fighters. These documents are expected to form the basis for legal proceedings in international courts.

🌍 A Global Market for Blood

Colombia’s battle-hardened veterans are part of a wider global mercenary trade, fueled by Gulf money and weak legal oversight. Similar networks have deployed Latin American fighters to:

• Yemen (on behalf of UAE and Saudi Arabia)
• Ukraine

• Libya

• Afghanistan

But Sudan is arguably the most lawless and exploitative case yet, involving not just seasoned fighters, but vulnerable young men misled into a foreign war.

📣 Call to Action

It’s time for international scrutiny and action:

• The UAE must be held accountable for its role in recruiting and deploying child mercenaries.
• Colombian authorities must dismantle the recruitment pipeline.

The UN and ICC must investigate this emerging mercenary-industrial complex.