Swissaid says 591 tonnes of illicit gold entered the UAE in 2024, about 29 of it Sudanese
A Bern NGO’s study, published 13 November, finds Emirati due-diligence rules introduced in early 2023 have not displaced the trade. No UAE government response has surfaced.
The study was carried on 13 November by the Associated Press, Bloomberg and Middle East Eye. AP reports Swissaid’s findings rest on UN data, official trade statistics and material from civil and international organisations, with 2024 as the reference year for the core figures. Swissaid puts illicit gold imports into the UAE at 591 tonnes, valued at $74bn, and says 42 percent of the Emirates' total 2024 gold imports originated in conflict zones, Russia or African countries. Of 453 tonnes valued at more than $56bn reaching Dubai refineries from African producers — Guinea, Mali and Sudan are named — roughly 29 tonnes originated in Sudan. A further 137.7 tonnes, about $17bn, came from Russia and Yemen. Middle East Eye renders the Africa smuggling figure as 413 tonnes against 405 tonnes in Swissaid’s 2022 study; the scopes differ between publishers and do not nest cleanly.
Marc Ummel, head of Swissaid’s commodities unit and a co-author, told Middle East Eye the findings “show that the United Arab Emirates remains a hub for smuggled and conflict gold.” The report recommends the UAE be added to an international watchlist for possible financial wrongdoing; the Emirates were placed on the Financial Action Task Force grey list in 2022. Swissaid also records Swiss gold imports from the UAE rising from 155 tonnes in 2024 to 420 tonnes in 2025. AP’s version of the story notes the RSF’s mass killings, sexual violence and destruction in northern Darfur, in a campaign UN experts said bears the “hallmarks of genocide.” No UAE government response to the study had surfaced as of this edition.
Assessment: Treat the tonnage as one NGO’s reconstruction from trade asymmetries, not a customs count — that is why the three Africa figures circulating this week disagree, and why any single number quoted without its publisher is worth distrusting. What the report does establish is a direction of travel: rules introduced in 2023 did not move the trade elsewhere. Note where the two stories on this desk meet. Al Jazeera identifies En Nahud, the town the army is now approaching, as a gold-mining site; the Quintet called for an end to “external support that fuels the escalation” without naming a supplier. Swissaid names a destination. Neither names a government.