Burma junta 'forcing refugees back to their wrecked homes'

HUMAN rights groups lashed out at Burma's military leaders for evicting cyclone refugees from relief camps and forcing them back to their storm-shattered homes.

A United Nations official said the government was making cyclone survivors leave the camps and "dumping" them near their devastated villages with virtually no aid.

The US-based Human Rights Watch said today that hundreds, if not thousands, of displaced people had also been expelled from schools, monasteries and public buildings.

In Rangoon, there were eyewitness reports of one eviction from a Christian church.

Eight camps set up for homeless survivors in the Irrawaddy delta town of Bogalay were "totally empty" as authorities continued to move people out of them, said Teh Tai Ring of the UN's Children's Fund at a meeting of agencies discussing water and sanitation issues.

Another group, Refugees International, said authorities appeared to be trying to get villagers back to their land to begin tending their fields.

"While agriculture recovery is indeed vital, forcing people home without aid makes it harder for aid agencies to reach them with assistance," it said.