Yes, you're going to get us in trouble. I don't know who's purchasing gold personally. In the case of Sudan, I want to emphasize that the gold is smuggled. That is a really important aspect—90%. Sudan is the third-largest exporter of gold in Africa and the 12th-largest in the world. Given the gold prices now, which are unprecedented since the seventies, the pressure to extract gold is really a big burden on Darfurians. That's why my friend mentioned it directly.
It's very important to understand what kind of gold is imported. It's smuggled. The reason that's important—I think my colleague was mentioning it—is that there are ways of persuading, not only through coercion but also through diplomacy, the United Arab Emirates to follow international regulations when it comes to the gold trade. The majority of it goes to the Dubai markets, to Abu Dhabi, in the Emirates. That's not a secret. That's well known. Some of it has ended up in Russia, through Syria, but most of it goes to Dubai.
The point here is that, number one, it's smuggled. Therefore, the campaign to regulate it is really crucial. That can be done through coercion and through diplomacy to follow the international property rights associated with the trade in gold.
The other thing is the way gold is done in Sudan. This is important. It's artisanal gold. The people who are actually excavating the gold are some of the biggest victims in Darfur, in Kordofan and in many regions. They should not be penalized in the campaign for gold. They need to be part of a transition, a security sector reform, and those are the mechanics, the kinds of things that Canada is so good at, because they've actually worked with respect to truth and reconciliation and peacebuilding. You have academics here in Canada who are experts on this issue.
The principle of “do no harm” in the context of regulating gold and making sure it's not used for recruitment is crucial. The artisanal gold miners are the ones who are the most vulnerable. They have very little to do with the leadership of the Rapid Support Forces.