A grassroots Karen rights group has issued a report claiming the Burma Army has begun to implement new projects to construct roads and camps using forced labor.

The Karen Human Rights Group, based on the Thai-Burmese border, said Burma’s military is starting to implement three main objectives in areas where displaced communities are living-the construction and upgrading of outpost camps, stocking them with ammunition and food supplies and road building. The construction projects were planned in late 2006.

The military activity is causing further displacement, as villagers flee to avoid being forced to work on the army projects, according to the KHRG report. Areas affected are in Papun and Nyaunglebin districts.

“With the ongoing expansion of road networks and search and destroy missions targeting those communities attempting to evade military forces in Papun and other districts, the SPDC has made it clear that it will not tolerate anyone living outside of state control,” the report said.

The report, issued on Monday, came as Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan dismissed reports of human rights abuses.

Speaking at a press conference in Naypyidaw on Monday, Kyaw Hsan said some Western nations and anti-government groups claimed the military government “is threatening regional and international peace and security by committing acts such as ethnic cleansing, rapes, forced labor and forced resettlement at border areas.

“In reality, those accusations are totally false and no such incidents occurred in Myanmar [Burma].”

The KHRG report said researchers in the field reported that villagers had been ordered to collect rocks for the construction of roads between Ler Mu P’law and Taw Koh Mu Der, and between Kay P’lu and Na Yoh Hta. The work was being supervised by Light Infantry Division 88, which replaced Military Operations Commands 1 in February.

A Free Burma Rangers report on Saturday, meanwhile, said that between March 15 and 18 the Burmese army’s MOC 1 had attacked areas in Papun District, causing more than 1,000 people to flee and seek refuge in the jungle.