Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh and US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.

Bhutanese political parties in exile and organisations of the Bhutanese refugees have formed a common platform called “Bhutanese Movement Steering Committee (BMSC)” under the chairmanship of veteran Bhutanese human rights leader, Tek Nath Rizal, to continue their 15-year-long agitation for the repatriation of the refugees, according to reports.

The first meeting of the BMSC held in eastern Nepal dissolved the umbrella organisation of the Bhutanese refugees, Bhutanese Refugee Representative Repatriation Committee (BRRRC).

Earlier, the BRRRC had led the agitation programmes related to the Bhutanese refugees, but some parties and other organisations had launched separate programmes.

Meanwhile, addressing a meeting of the refugee community in Khudunabari camp on Friday, Rizal thanked all the refugees for providing him opportunity to work for their cause and added that everyone needed to cooperate to continue their peaceful movement.

“We can achieve our goals only if we work together. Be assured that we will definitely go back to our homeland,” said Rizal– who was imprisoned for over a decade by the Wangchuk regime in Bhutan for calling for establishment of democracy and human rights in the country.

Over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin are languishing in the seven UNHCR-maintained camps in eastern Nepal for the last 15 years. There have been over a dozen rounds of bilateral talks between Nepal and Bhutan in as many years, but to no avail.