RANGOON, Burma — Survivors of the Burma cyclone are reportedly being used as forced labor in government camps.

Following the devastation of Cyclone Nargis on May 2, the military has forcibly relocated tens of thousands of survivors from the Irrawaddy Delta, including many who had sought shelter in Buddhist monasteries — the center of unrest during protests against the junta last year.

A 35-year-old farmer who lost nine relatives in the storm, Ko Hla Min, claimed that those rounded up by soldiers around the devastated town of Bogalay were being used as work gangs. “They have to break stones at the construction sites,” he said. “They are paid $1 per day but are not provided with any food.”

Meanwhile, a senior U.N. official said that he feared other survivors will shortly be moved back to the delta and used by the junta to plant the next rice crop in the coming weeks.

About 80,000 people sought sanctuary in schools and temples in the town of Labutta, which was left in ruins by the cyclone. Now, only about 20,000 are thought to remain after the military intervened. The official toll of dead and missing is 70,000, although the Red Cross estimates the real number to be closer to 128,000.

Despite another two million still in dire need of emergency aid, the Burmese government has repeatedly rejected calls to allow foreign relief workers to deliver food, clean drinking water, shelter, and medicine.

The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a government mouthpiece, has said Burma can be rebuilt without outside help. “They will not rely too much on international assistance and will reconstruct the nation on [a] self-reliance basis,” it stated.

A Foreign Office minister, Lord Malloch-Brown, yesterday accused Burma’s junta of turning a “deaf ear” to the plight of their subjects. Referring to the ruling general, he said, “Than Shwe is not hearing the seriousness of the crisis and the regime has set its back against the need to accept outside help.”

Prime Minister Brown said the U.N. would be organizing an emergency summit in Asia to discuss the disaster. The reports came as the Burmese regime announced that a referendum held last weekend had overwhelmingly endorsed the country’s new constitution. State radio claimed that 92.4% of voters, from a 99% turnout, had voted “yes.” But civil rights groups and dissidents earlier reported a low turnout and irregularities. At some polling stations, officials voted “yes” on behalf of anybody who had not appeared by 1 p.m.

The supposedly democratic charter is widely dismissed as a smoke screen for prolonged military rule. Campaigning against it was punishable with jail.

A Western diplomat in Rangoon said only a small fraction of the army was initially devoted to relief efforts, while the regime concentrated its resources on conducting the referendum. Their only concession to the storm was to postpone voting in the affected areas until May 24.

Reports are also beginning to spread of an outbreak of cholera. However, in an attempt to hide the burgeoning humanitarian catastrophe from the world, even Burmese people are no longer allowed to enter the Irrawaddy Delta, which is ringed by roadblocks.