Ethiopian United Nations peacekeepers on trucks patrol the outskirts of the disputed Abyei town that straddles the border between Sudan and South Sudan September 16, 2013. REUTERS/Andreea Campeanu/File PhotoKHARTOUM, April 26 (Reuters) - Up to 550 Ethiopian peacekeepers working in Sudan have sought asylum rather than return home for fear they will be persecuted due to their Tigrayan ethnicity, an official with direct knowledge of the plan said on Tuesday. Ethiopian government spokesperson Legesse Tulu and military spokesman Col. Getnet Adane did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment on the soldiers seeking asylum. Nor did spokespeople for the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, nor the U.N. peacekeeping office. At the beginning of the conflict, Tigrayan police and soldiers were disarmed and put in secure areas.

Source: Ethiopian News April 26, 2022 22:42 UTC