A day after Foreign Minister Narendra Bikram Shah returned from his Bhutan visit after holding talks on the refugee issue, Bhutanese refugees in six different camps in Morang and Jhapa districts in Nepal announced that they would go on a relay hunger strike to press for early repatriation.

Refugees in the Khudnabari camp who were verified by a joint team nearly 14 months back were already on strike demanding for the flashing of the results of the verification and the early repatriation of the verified refugees. A total of 12,000 refugees were verified in the Khudnabari camp.

The refugees on strike have also demanded the initiation of the verification process in the other camps as well. The Bhutanese refugees in six different camps have initiated the strike as a show of solidarity to their peers in the Khudnabari camp.

The government of Bhutan has been delaying taking back the verified refugees though they were verified around 14 months ago. Foreign Minister Narendra Bikaram Shah has after returning from his trip to Bhutan said that the 12th round of Ministerial level committee meeting on the refugee issue

would be held soon in Kathmandu.