Over 100 Ethiopian ex-peacekeepers seek asylum in Sudan

GOOBJOOG NEWS|SUDAN: Over 100 Ethiopian soldiers who were serving under a UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan have declined to return home and instead sought asylum, the UN has said adding to an increasing number of Ethiopians seeking to leave their country.

The UN said the 120 soldiers who were serving in the defunct UN Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) have applied for asylum in Sudan. The UNAMID mandate ended in December 2020.

“As of now, 120 former UNAMID peacekeepers who were due to be repatriated have sought international protection,” AFP quoted a UN peacekeeping spokesperson.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR also confirmed to the news agency that the former peacekeepers had sought asylum in Sudan.

UNAMID had been operating in Sudan from December 2007 until December 2020.

In February in South Sudan, another group of Ethiopian peacekeepers who were originally from Tigray refused to go home saying they feared persecution.

The move by the soldiers to remain in Sudan could be linked to the ongoing fighting in Tigray region which has seen some government officials from the region targeted in a purge.