KATHMANDU, Jul 16, 2007 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Bhutanese refugees will suspend their campaign to return home from Nepal till the presidential election in India comes to a close, local media reported on Monday.
According to reports from a leading website thehimalayantimes. com, the decision was made at a meeting of the National Front for Democracy Bhutan (NFD) in Jhapa district in eastern Nepal on Sunday.
At least one refugee died and several others were injured during the campaign on May 28-30 in a clash with Indian security personnel on the Mechi bridge across the Nepal-India border.
After that, the campaign came to a halt, followed by discussions among the Jhapa chief district officer, the district magistrate of West Bengal state and Bhutanese refugees.
The NFD agreed to extend it further by a month after a positive signal from India.
Meanwhile, India has boosted security arrangements and deployed security forces along the border.
In a press release, the NFD said the campaign is being postponed since the Indian leaders have assured that the refugee problem would be raised in the parliament that would convene after the presidential election and that a solution would be sought.
Some 106,000 Bhutanese refugees have been living in seven camps in eastern Nepal for the last 16 years.