Joint Letter to Greater Manchester Mayoral Candidates on the United Arab Emirates and Human Rights Concerns

Bev Craig; Labour Party
Richard Martin Kilpatrick; Liberal Democrats
Sian Astley; Reform UK
Geraldine Coggins; Green Party
Phil Eckersley; Conservative Party

Dear all, 

We are writing ahead of the upcoming Greater Manchester mayoral by-election to outline our concerns over links between Manchester City Council and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government, which is responsible for serious and systematic human rights abuses. We ask that you commit that, if elected, you will engage with the UAE authorities on their human rights record. 

Human Rights Watch is an independent nongovernmental organization concerned with human rights issues in over 100 countries around the world. FairSquare is a human rights organization based in London focusing on our three specialist areas of political repression, accountability in sport, and the exploitation of migrant workers.  

Manchester City Council has a close financial relationship with senior figures in the UAE government, in particular through its stake in the Manchester Life Development Company (MLDC), a joint venture ultimately controlled by Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nayan, vice president and deputy prime minister of the UAE.

The joint venture has offered the Emirati government valuable reputational benefits in the city of Manchester, helping the UAE government deflect from its image as a pervasive human rights violator.

As Greater Manchester mayoral election candidates, we believe it is important that you are fully aware of the extent and the gravity of the human rights violations happening now in the UAE, and UAE government’s support for abuses elsewhere, particularly in Sudan.

We urge you to speak out on the UAE’s support of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan, forces who have committed widespread war crimes and crimes against humanity in the context of the conflict in Sudan.  

Human Rights Watch has previously sought to engage with civic leaders in Manchester on issues relating to the UAE’s human rights record. In 2016 HRW requested that a then senior figure in Manchester City Council, Sir Richard Leese, co-sign a letter calling on the UAE to release political prisoners and investigate torture allegations. Richard Leese declined, stating that the Abu Dhabi government were “exemplary business partners” and the “alleged” abuses detailed in the letter were beyond the council’s sphere of influence. As outlined in a FairSquare report published in 2023, very few political leaders in Manchester have offered any criticism of the UAE, even though the city council has been engaged in joint commercial ventures with entities linked to the UAE government.

A new report by Human Rights Watch adds to mounting evidence that the UAE has provided military support to the RSF in Sudan, a force responsible for widespread war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other atrocities, including as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing in the Darfur region. The report found that Colombian military contractors passed through UAE military bases before being deployed to Sudan to support the abusive RSF. This is further evidence indicating that the UAE is assisting or otherwise substantially contributing to the Rapid Support Forces’ capacity to commit war crimes.

Human Rights Watch located Colombian fighters at the site of abuses by the RSF during their takeover of North Darfur’s capital, El Fasher, in October 2025, a city they had besieged for 18-months. Foreign fighters, most likely Colombian PMCs, stood by while RSF fighters massacred men and women, including people with disabilities, and abducted many for ransom.

In February 2026, the FCDO added three Colombian nationals to the UK Sanctions List for their involvement in “enlisting Columbian mercenaries to fight alongside the RSF in areas of Sudan, including El Fasher.”

The UAE imposes severe restrictions on free expression, association, and assembly, enforcing a zero-tolerance policy toward government criticism through invasive domestic and international surveillance. This has led to the complete dismantling of independent civil society and widespread self-censorship. Many government critics are serving long prison sentences after unfair trials based on vague charges that violate their fundamental rights. On July 10, 2024, the Abu Dhabi Federal Appeals Court convicted 53 human rights defenders and political dissidents and meted out sentences ranging from 10 years to life in prison following an unfair trial marred by due process and fair trial violations. An Emirati court on March 4, 2025, rejected all appeals by those convicted in the UAE’s second-largest unfair mass trial, upholding the unfair convictions and abusive sentences of all 53 defendants.

Despite several reforms, legislation governing migrant rights, employers still hold disproportionate control over migrant workers under the kafala (sponsorship) system. Workers still struggle to change jobs and employers can file false “absconding” charges even when workers leave to escape abuse, causing them to risk detention and deportation. Migrant workers in the UAE continue to face widespread abuses like wage theft, illegal recruitment fees, and passport confiscation, which leave workers in situations that may amount to forced labor. The UAE continues to ban trade unions, which prevents workers from demanding stronger labor protections. Authorities have failed to protect workers from climate change-related risks. Outdoor migrant workers in the UAE are among the most vulnerable to heat-related illnesses and death. The UAE continues to rely solely on a summer midday work ban as the primary heat protection measure, despite evidence of its ineffectiveness in protecting workers.

The UAE hosts high profile sporting, entertainment and cultural events to promote a public image of openness that is at odds with the government’s efforts to prevent scrutiny of its rampant systemic human rights violations, at home and abroad. The UAE uses these events to burnish its image, despite suppressing dissent domestically and fueling rights abuses abroad. 

We urge you to speak out on UAE government abuses and make clear where you stand. Following that, we ask your response to the following questions: 

1. During the current campaign and if elected as mayor, will you publicly commit to call on the UAE government to end its support for the abusive Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, and to cooperate with international efforts to hold those responsible for atrocities in Sudan to account?
2. If elected, will you commit to human rights due diligence to identify and address human rights risks linked to UAE-linked investment in the city-region, including a risk of laundering the reputation of a government and individuals responsible for serious human rights abuses?
3. Will you use the platform of the mayoralty to raise these human rights concerns directly with UAE representatives, and to meet Emirati human rights defenders affected by state repression? 
4. Beyond Sudan, will you speak out during the current campaign and if elected as mayor about the UAE's domestic human rights record — including the mass trial in which 53 human rights defenders and dissidents received sentences of up to life imprisonment, and the abuses migrant workers face under the kafala system?

We invite you to meet with the Human Rights Watch and FairSquare teams to discuss any comments, questions, or information you have about this matter. We can provide access to researchers at Human Rights Watch who are specialized in documenting human rights violations in the UAE, as well as those who have been directly impacted by Emirati state repression. 

Please note that we may publish your response in whole or in part, at our discretion.