American rapper Macklemore has called off a show in Abu Dhabi over concerns the UAE is fuelling the conflict in Sudan and exacerbating a dire humanitarian crisis.

In a social media post, Macklemore, who was due to perform at Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena in October, said he would not perform in the UAE until the country ends its alleged support for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces militia group.

‘‘While many external forces play a role in this crisis, advocates, organisers, journalists, and officials consistently point to the UAE’s funding of the RSF militia as a key factor,’’ Macklemore said.

He said his decision was influenced by several requests from people and groups urging him to stand in solidarity with the Sudanese people, describing the situation as “urgent, horrific, and largely overlooked by the world”.

The UAE has repeatedly denied any involvement in the conflict, despite the mounting evidence.

Recent reports said that Emirati passports connected to RSF soldiers had been found in the city of Omdurman, which the Sudanese army had recently taken back from the militia.

The war in Sudan has created the world’s largest humanitarian and displacement crisis, with more than ten million people forced from their homes. Two million of them have fled to neighbouring countries.

Recently, Sudan’s army removed restrictions imposed in February on aid trucks moving into the famine-stricken Darfur region through the Adré crossing in neighbouring Chad.

The crossing provides the most direct route into Darfur but was sealed off by the army because it doesn’t want aid going into a region controlled by the RSF.

Famine has been officially declared in Sudan’s North Darfur region, a region that is hosting refugees. It is the first UN famine declaration in over seven years and only the third since the system was designed 20 years ago.

The food shortages are worst in a camp for displaced people, which is currently home to hundreds of thousands of people. 

It follows more than 15 months of war in the country.

The conflict in Sudan erupted in mid-April between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Force (SAF) which previously had a power-sharing arrangement.

The conflict has caused a severe humanitarian crisis as shortages of food, water, medicines, and fuel have become extremely acute.

The international aid response to hunger in Sudan remains limited with host families are shouldering much of the burden.

More than half of displaced households are being supported by friends, relatives, or even strangers.

Almost eight million people remain displaced within Sudan, with many relying on these makeshift networks for survival.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has called on the warring parties to immediately facilitate humanitarian access to communities that require life-saving aid.

“The level of suffering is truly unconscionable,” Mr Grandi said.

“It’s time for those fighting each other to start caring for their own people and for states with influence to make serious efforts to bring them to the negotiating table” he said.