Reports of killings, abductions of Eritrean refugees "overwhelming" - U.N.

FILE PHOTO: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi attends a news conference on the 2020 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya humanitarian crisis at the U.N. in Geneva, Switzerland March 3, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

GENEVA (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday it had received an "overwhelming" number of reports of Eritrean refugees in Tigray, Ethiopia being killed, abducted or forcibly returned to Eritrea over the last month.

"If confirmed, these actions would constitute a major violation of international law," Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said in a statement.