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Written question asked by Steve Witherden (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 July 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 July 2026. It was answered by Chris Bryant (Labour) on Thursday, 16 July 2026 on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade.

Arms Trade: United Arab Emirates

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessments he has made of the potential risk that arms exports licensed by the UK Government to the United Arab Emirates might be diverted and used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law in Sudan.

Answer

We take very seriously any allegations of UK military equipment ending up in Sudan in breach of the UK arms embargo. However, after extensive assessment, we have found no evidence of UK weapons or ammunition being used in Sudan.

We keep all our licensing decisions under close review, and we reviewed over 3,000 current and historic licences in recent months, considering any destinations where there are allegations of diversion to Sudan. We have not found any that required suspension or revocation.

Between 2021-2025, there were 29 refusals for Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs) for the UAE, the majority of which were under Criteria 7 of the UK’s Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, which considers risk of diversion.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
17175
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Arms trade International humanitarian law Sudan United Arab Emirates
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk