At least 16 United Nations staff and dependents have been detained in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, a U.N. spokesperson said on Tuesday, amid reports of widespread arrests of ethnic Tigrayans, Trend reports citing Reuters.
"We are, of course, actively working with the government of Ethiopia to secure their immediate release," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.
He declined to answer a question on the ethnicity of those detained, saying: "These are United Nations staff members, they're Ethiopians..., and we would like to see them released, whatever ethnicity is listed on their identity cards."
The state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said on Sunday it had received many reports of arrests of Tigrayans in the capital, including elders and mothers with children.
Daniel Bekele, head of the commission, told Reuters on Tuesday that it was monitoring "the arrests of hundreds of Tigrayans in Addis Ababa".