Macklemore cancels Dubai show over the UAE's involvement in Sudanese conflict

Macklemore performing in Texas in 2023. Credit: AP

American rapper Macklemore has said he will no longer perform in Dubai this October over the United Arab Emirates' alleged role in ongoing conflict in Sudan.

The UAE has repeatedly denied arming the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group rival faction of the country's military government currently fighting against the Sudanese Armed Forces.

However, in January, United Nations experts reported “credible” evidence that the UAE sent weapons to the RSF several times a week from northern Chad.

In a post on Instagram, Grammy winner Macklemore said he had a series of people “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.”

He continued: “I know that this will probably jeopardize my future shows in the area, and I truly hate letting any of my fans down.

"I was really excited too. But until the UAE stops arming and funding the RSF I will not perform there.”

Sudan plunged into chaos in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital, Khartoum, and spread to other regions including Darfur.

Estimates suggest over 18,800 people have been killed in the fighting, while over 10 million have fled their homes. Hundreds of thousands are on the brink of famine.

The Emirati Foreign Ministry offered no immediate comment on Macklemore's public statement Sunday, nor did the city-state's Dubai Media Office.

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Organisers last week announced the show had been cancelled and refunds would be issued, without offering an explanation for the cancellation.

The RSF formed out of the Janjaweed fighters under then-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for three decades before being overthrown during a popular uprising in 2019.

He is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and other crimes during the conflict in Darfur in the 2000s.

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