Protest at UAE embassy: 3000 young men tricked into joining conflicts in Yemen and Libya as mercenaries

On Monday, dozens of Sudanese families gathered outside the UAE’s embassy in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, to protest an Emirati firm accused of falsely recruiting young men to fight in Libya and Yemen.

Black Shield Security Services, an Emirati security firm, has reportedly misled around 3000 Sudanese recruits. The men were hired to work as security guards in Hospitals and malls within the UAE, instead they were sent to fight as mercenaries in armed conflicts in the region.

The protesters said the company detained their sons and relatives in a three-month military training camp, after which recruits had their phones confiscated and were then given the choice of fighting in either Yemen or Libya.

As their families gathered outside the Emirati embassy in Khartoum, banners read “No to mercenaries”, “No to fraud”, and “No to deception”, expressing the deep outrage surrounding the firm’s malpractice.