"EarthRights International (ERI) has collected credible reports regarding the use of forced labor to construct a new hydroelectric dam on the Shwe Gin River, near Kyaut Nagar in Eastern Burma. This predominantly Karen area, north of Shwe Gin Township, is home to thousands of "internally displaced people? who have been repeatedly forced out of their homes by the military junta?s activities. The dam project, which will eventually dislocate them once again, is currently pushing the local people further into poverty by stealing their labor. Villagers interviewed by an ERI fact-finding team said that in May 2002, soldiers routinely force them to work on the construction project. According to one local man, ?We can only come back after we finished the work in the camp. In the camp, they don?t have water and food for the workers. The military orders the villagers to do what they want. The soldiers don?t have any sympathy for the workers.? Official information regarding the project, which is located on the edge of the armed conflict, is extremely difficult to obtain. The project is overseen by the state-owned Myanmar Electrical Power Enterprise (MEPE). In early 2001, a survey was conducted by four Japanese technicians working for an undisclosed company. Construction began shortly after and is to be completed in 2005. No social or environmental impact assessment was carried out prior to beginning construction. Reconnaissance of the area also reveals the construction of roads, military barracks, a helicopter pad, as well as surveillance posts on the western side of the river. The area surrounding the dam site is now heavily militarized."