Hundreds of people are being driven out of their villages in Karenni State northeast of Myanmar's capital Yangon, the US Campaign for Burma group said, showing photos of some of the displaced people taken earlier this week.

The group said in a statement that the military's move was part of a "systematic and brutal campaign" against ethnic nationalities that has left between 600,000 and one million people internally displaced and forced between one and two million people to flee to neighboring countries.

"This regime's abuses are forcing innocent, defenceless children into the jungle," said Stephen Dun, a board member of US Campaign for Burma. Burma is Myanmar's previous name.

Dun said the affected villages were around the Nat Thaung Mountain, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Myanmar's border with Thailand,

He said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), whose foreign ministers are holding their annual meeting in Indonesia's capital Jakarta, should condemn Yangon for the forced relocation of villages closer to military bases.

"From these locations, villagers are forced to provide labor for the military regime's infrastructure projects," he said.