Peacekeepers from Tigray refuse to return to Ethiopia
Hundreds of UN peacekeepers from Ethiopia’s Tigray region are refusing to return home from Sudan because of fears for their safety.
They had been deployed in Abyei – a disputed border region between Sudan and South Sudan.
When ties between Addis Ababa and Khartoum deteriorated, over a territorial dispute and as a result of Ethiopia building a dam on the River Nile, the peacekeepers were replaced last year by a multi-national force.
A UN spokesperson confirmed that some of them were seeking international protection in Sudan.
One of the Tigrayan peacekeepers said more than 500 of his colleagues were seeking asylum.
He said they would not be safe back home as a result of the 18-month long war in Tigray.
Last year another group of Ethiopian peacekeepers who had been deployed in Sudan’s Darfur region also refused to return home citing fears of persecution.
By BBC
