More than 100 former United Nations peacekeepers from Ethiopia have sought asylum in Sudan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group was part of a recently closed UN mission in Sudan\u2019s Darfur region, and had been due to return home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A local refugee official said the peacekeepers came from Ethiopia\u2019s conflict-hit Tigray region, and feared persecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thousands have been killed in the conflict between Ethiopia\u2019s central government and local forces in Tigray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It began in November when the government launched an offensive to oust the region\u2019s ruling party from power after its fighters captured federal military bases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Tigray People\u2019s Liberation Front (TPLF) had previously had a major dispute with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed over the future of the country\u2019s ethnically based federal system and its role in government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There has been increasing concern over allegations of atrocities committed in the Tigray region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The powerful head of Ethiopia\u2019s Orthodox Church on Saturday accused the government of committing genocide against the Tigrayan people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGod will judge everything,\u201d said Patriarch Abune Mathias, a Tigrayan, in his first public comments since the war began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know why they want to wipe the people of Tigray off the face of the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A UN peacekeeping spokesperson told AFP news agency that 120 former peacekeepers with its now-closed mission in Darfur were seeking international protection and had applied for asylum in Sudan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mission, aimed at supporting civilians and helping to mediate Darfur\u2019s years-long conflict, ended in December, and the peacekeepers were due to be repatriated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UN refugee agency said the group would instead be \u201ctaken to a location where they can be safely undertaken for their refugee status to be determined\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UN did not provide details of the identities of those who have applied for asylum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the state-run Suna news agency said the 120 peacekeepers were from the Tigrayan ethnic group, and feared being detained by the federal government in Addis Ababa if they returned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About three dozen of the peacekeepers have been moved to a refugee camp on the border with Ethiopia, and more were set to be moved on Monday, the head of the refugee agency in North Darfur told Suna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The troops have joined tens of thousands of Ethiopian refugees who have fled to Sudan since the conflict in Tigray began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n