The University of Maryland SGA passed a resolution last week calling on this university to end educational programs in the United Arab Emirates, citing reports the country has supported a Sudanese paramilitary group accused of genocide.
The measure asks the university to end study abroad programs in the UAE. Currently, the only program based in the country is a winter business and management class in Abu Dhabi, which is titled “Marketing, Design, and Innovation in the Middle East,” according to the study abroad program database.
Sophomore neuroscience major Andrey Chernyak, who represents the computer, mathematical and natural sciences college, said he sponsored the resolution in response to concerns raised by Sudanese students at this university.
Aseel Ahmed, this university’s Sudanese Student Organization’s president, said the resolution supports the organization’s efforts to raise awareness about the war.
“The war is obviously a devastating thing and a time to go through with many of our relatives [being] displaced and many of them passed away or getting injured,” the sophomore physics major said. “During this time, Sudanese students are trying to come together, trying to focus on the issue, spread the issue, so that it gets more awareness.”
[UMD community members reflect on war, humanitarian crisis in Sudan]
The resolution details reports from international news outlets and human rights organizations that reported the UAE supports the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group that the U.S. government formally accused of committing genocide in Sudan in January. The SGA resolution also condemned the genocide in Sudan.
The Sudanese military and the paramilitary group were once allies, but a power struggle between them sparked the country’s civil war, the Associated Press. The two groups were supposed to help guide Sudan through a political transition in 2019 until rising tensions led to fighting.
The civil war has lasted more than two years and has killed at least 40,000 people, the Associated Press reported. More than 12 million people have been displaced, and aid organizations say the death toll is likely much higher.
The paramilitary group has been implicated in several massacres, mass sexual violence and attacks on hospitals and peaceful protests, according to news articles cited in the resolution.
[SGA resolution demands UMD recognize Israel’s offensive in Gaza as genocide]
The Rapid Support Forces have traded gold and weapons with the UAE. The country has also maintained diplomatic ties with the paramilitary group, according to reporting cited in the resolution.
The UAE denies backing either party, the Associated Press reported.
SGA executive vice president Riona Sheikh said the resolution draws attention to the university’s continued ties to a country that has been accused of enabling genocide, including in other parts of the world. She hopes the resolution pushes administrators to reconsider those relationships.
“It’s a little bit harsh to say the study abroad program specifically supports genocide,” the junior international relations major said. “It’s more of an image thing, because when a country is actively supporting genocide, then the burden falls on institutions and all kinds of entities around the world to apply pressure to that country to end the genocide.”
This university wrote in a statement to The Diamondback that SGA resolutions are student-led, reflect the perspectives of voting members of the student government and have no bearing on university policy or practice.
