A rights group has strongly criticized Burma's military government for what it calls Rangoon's campaign against the country's ethnic groups.
The U.S. Campaign for Burma says Burmese forces recently forced more than 7,500 people from villages in eastern Karen state to flee their homes. The group says the Burmese troops then burned down the villages and destroyed rice crops.
The rights group says the attacks are aimed at bringing eastern Burma, which has historically been under control of Burma's ethnic minorities, under the control of Burma's military government.
The group says more than 500,000 villagers are believed to have been forced from their homes in eastern Burma over the past decade.