US rapper Macklemore has announced the cancellation of his upcoming October concert in Dubai over the United Arab Emirates’ role “in the ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis” in Sudan, citing their reported support for the paramilitary force that has been at ar with government troops there.

While the UAE has repeatedly denied arming the Rapid Support Forces and supporting its leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, UN experts reported in January that there was “credible” evidence that the Emirates sent weapons to the RSF several times a week from northern Chad.

The Sudanese civil war began in mid-April 2023, following long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders breaking out in the capital and spreading to other regions, including Darfur.

The death toll is currently estimated to 18.800 people, while over 10 million have fled their homes and hundreds of thousands are on the brink of famine, with the International Rescue Committee issuing a “crisis alert” earlier this month, warning that a risk of famine was looming while the lack of political solutions left Sudan on the brink of a "catastrophe of historic scale."

The Sudanese government directly accused the UAE of arming the RSF at a U.N. Security council meeting in June.

 

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In an Instagram post on Saturday, Grammy-winning artist Macklemore said that he had come to the decision “after careful thought, numerous conversations with trusted organisers and friends and my own reading/research.”

He added that he had received a series of messages “asking me to cancel the show in solidarity with the people of Sudan and to boycott doing business in the UAE for the role they are playing in the ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis

“I know that this will probably jeopardise my future shows in the area, and I truly hate letting any of my fans down,” he wrote. “I was really excited too. But until the UAE stops arming and funding the RSF I will not perform there.

“I have no judgment against other artists performing in the UAE,” he added. “But I do ask the question to my peers scheduled to play in Dubai: If we used our platforms to mobilize collective liberation, what could we accomplish?”

Macklemore said he reconsidered the show in part over his recent, public support of Palestinians. He released his single ‘Hind’s Hall’ in May, with all the proceeds being donated to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).