Sanctioned gold flows into UAE refineries

New regulations intended to stop the flow of war-tainted gold have not yet changed how the United Arab Emirates handles precious metal imports, according to a report released Thursday. The findings suggest that ordinary consumers buying jewelry or investment products may still be purchasing gold that passed through the Emirates from conflict zones, even as the government claims to have tightened oversight.

Swissaid, a Switzerland-based aid group, analyzed data from the United Nations, official trade statistics, and international organizations. The group calculated that the UAE imported at least 591 tons of illicit gold in 2024. That amount was valued at $74 billion. The report states that gold smuggled from Russia, Yemen, and Sudan accounted for 42 percent of the UAE's total gold imports that year.

The Emirates introduced the new guidelines after the Financial Action Task Force, an international anti-money laundering body, raised concerns about the country's controls. The rules required responsible sourcing and vetting of supply chains. Despite these changes, the report says enforcement remains lax among many refiners and traders.

Most of the smuggled volume came from Africa. Swissaid estimates that 453 tons of gold, worth over $56 billion, reached Dubai refineries from African producers such as Guinea, Mali, and Sudan. Nearly 29 tons of that total originated in Sudan, a country currently under international sanctions. The report notes that imports of gold mined and smuggled out of Africa made up nearly half of the gold coming into the UAE from the continent.

An additional 137.7 tons of gold, valued at nearly $17 billion, entered the UAE from Russia and Yemen in 2024. Both nations are also subject to international sanctions. The report indicates that some of this gold entered the country officially through third nations, a route that showed a slight increase in 2024.

The illicit trade has directly funded the war in Sudan between the country's military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The conflict began in 2023. The Rapid Support Forces control gold-producing areas in the Darfur and Kordofan regions. U.N. experts said the group used smuggled gold to finance its operations while carrying out mass killings and destruction in northern Darfur.

Marc Ummel of Swissaid said the new rules failed to halt the flow. "We had hoped that with the new regulations, conflict gold from countries subject to international sanctions would be stopped," Ummel told The Associated Press. He added that from the group's perspective, all gold from Sudan since April 2023 should be considered conflict gold.

Switzerland remained the top importer of gold from the UAE in 2024. The report shows that gold imports from the UAE to Switzerland jumped from 155 tons in 2024 to 420 tons in 2025. The Swiss government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the findings.

The UAE did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. Swissaid recommended that the Financial Action Task Force place the UAE back on its gray list. The group removed the country from that list in 2024 after the new gold supply chain regulations took effect. The gray list requires increased monitoring of a country's financial systems.

The report states that 2025 data was incomplete, but partial recent figures show the rising trend continuing. The UAE was the second-biggest gold exporter in the world after Switzerland in 2024, a year after the new rules were implemented. The precious metal is refined in the Emirates before being sent to major markets in Switzerland, India, and China.