REPORTER: Ginny Stein
Blacklisted as a journalist six years ago for no stated reason, I've come back to Burma on a tourist visa. It's my only way in and the only way to independently report on this closed country and its cowed people.
I'm being taken to meet one of the country's most respected journalists. The man guiding me knows he'd be sent to prison if caught helping. Once I arrive, my guide slips away. Ludu Sin Wein has been waiting.
LUDU SIN WEIN, VETERAN POLITICAL JOURNALIST: Yes, there are many risks for every Burmese citizen you see to talk to the foreigners, especially to a journalist. If you print or you broadcast our opinion, we can be imprisoned any time.
REPORTER: So why do it? I mean you agreed to meet with me, why?
LUDU SIN WEIN: Because, somebody has to take risk to let the world community know what is really happening in our country.
U Sin Wein is prepared to talk because he's old and now very sick. On an oxygen tank and partially paralysed from a stroke he suffered in prison, his one hope now is that he will outlast the generals.
LUDU SIN WEIN: Looking, living a free man's life a day, is worth. Spending, you see, a generation like a slave. We are just like slaves. These days, you see, I am always reading, every day, you see, I have free time. I used to read 'Animal Farm', '1984', we are just like in those situation.
For over 40 years, Burma has been a brutal military dictatorship. In 1990, the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won the only election in a landslide, but it's never been allowed to take power. Since then, the military's repression has worsened. As I secretly return, those brave enough to speak out are doing so for one reason - that their plight won't be forgotten by the rest of the world.
Outside of the old capital, Rangoon, a constitutional convention is taking place. A rare occasion where a few selected foreign media are granted access of sorts. To counter international sanctions the military has been hard at work for the past 13 years writing the country's constitution.
Everyone assumes it will guarantee the military's hold on power, but the regime claims it is the first hurdle in a 7-step road map to democracy.
KYAW HSAN, BURMESE INFORMATION MINISTER: We will take more time than the previous ones. So you can see our intention, how we would like to finish National Convention as quickly as possible.
DOMINIC FAULDER, BANGKOK BASED JOURNALIST: There's nothing very encouraging about this convention. It's taken them 13 years not to get it through.
With opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest and her National League for Democracy not attending the talks, no-one outside the military regime is giving the convention any credibility.
LUDU SIN WEIN: Now the whole world is watching this National Convention but you can ask anyone on the road, nobody is interested in this convention. Ordinary people have no interest at all. They don't believe something will come out for their good.
Perhaps the most bizarre element of this deeply paranoid regime is the way crucial decisions are made according to astrology. Backyard astrologer Daw San San, not her real name, has relied on numerological predictions to help her cope with life and loss in Burma.
DAW THANDAR, BACKYARD ASTROLOGER, (Translation): He was 60 years old when he died. He was only 50 when he was imprisoned.
Over the years, astrology and numerology have guided crucial decisions of the regime, like bank notes in strange denominations, overnight changing which side of the road people drove on, and now Burma's capital is being moved to the remote jungle. It's like an Orwellian nightmare.
DAW THANDAR (Translation): They've always wanted the number nine. For example, three and six, or two and seven, or one and eight. They all add up to nine. They are superstitious.
The first time residents of Rangoon were aware that they no longer lived in the capital came on a surreal Sunday morning last November. Sirens blew, and at 6:37am precisely trucks loaded with public servants began to roll out of Rangoon, headed for the secret mountain compound 350 kilometres to the north. The capital of Burma had now moved, and that's where I am now headed with a hidden camera.
When I arrive in Pyinmana, the closest town to the new capital, I am told that foreign tourists are not permitted to stay. Instead, completely unexpectedly, and for reasons I am yet to fathom, I'm taken to a resort-style hotel inside the secret city.
REPORTER: Is this part of Naypyidaw?
DRIVER: City hall.
REPORTER: City hall.
Such is the generals' paranoia that in March this year two Burmese journalists were jailed for three years for trying to do what I'm doing - filming the new capital being built.
I'm still a little stunned to find myself here at one of the half a dozen new resorts built to cater for the new capital, Naypyidaw. The hotel Mat Taw Win is yet to be officially opened. Construction is still under way, but it's obviously part of a grand plan. Its location is described as being in the hotel zone opposite the embassies compound.
Dateline has now obtained smuggled photographs taken on site by an engineer involved in helping to construct the capital. Seen here for the first time, they show not just the plans for the entire site and its buildings, but also the new airport just outside this emerging city.
This is the Foreign Affairs building. Work is still under way. Diplomats have to apply in writing if they wish to visit. I've since learnt the reason why foreigners are banned from staying in the nearby town of Pyinmana. Tremors are often felt at night. and it's not seismic activity, but explosions. Sources say the military is building a network of underground bunkers.
Two companies reportedly control 80% of the contracts for the multimillion-dollar move - Htoo Corporation - owned by Tayza, the regime's main arms buyer - and Asia World.
REPORTER: How long has this place been here? This has to be new, this hotel?
WOMAN: Yes.
REPORTER: And is it a Myanmar company?
WOMAN: Yes, Asia company. Asia World.
REPORTER: Asia World?
WOMAN: Those who belong to Steven Law.
REPORTER: Oh, OK. No problem. 200. 400.
Construction at this resort continues into the night. I am able to film a little from the doorway of my room, but fear being caught. Tonight I appear to be the only paying guest. Tomorrow I will leave early. Only 30 kilometres from the new capital a desperate battle for survival is taking place.
MAN (Translation):
The conditions in the camp aren't good. The school buildings aren't finished yet. As for food, we have to go and look for it. The food that is supplied isn’t adequate.
Ever since the decision to build the new capital, the Burmese army has intensified its attacks on the Karen - clearing out surrounding villages in an attempt to dominate the area. Since 1996, more than 2,800 Karen villages have been destroyed. 1 million people are now internally displaced. Volunteer medics led this group of villagers to this protected valley close to the border with Thailand. Htain Maung, not her real name, is expecting another baby. Her husband died on his way here. They were unable to get medical help when he came down with malaria.
HTAIN MAUNG (Translation): We were in the jungle, so there was no medicine. Because of where we were there was no medication and he got worse and worse. He just kept getting worse. We didn’t have any friends, no one to help us. The Karen soldiers found me, they found me and took pity on me. They took me to other Karen soldiers at the district command, my husband died and I went to the district command. Then when other people came, I left with them to come here.
In recent years, a minor chink in Burma's isolation has opened up. Now tourists are allowed in, and this is one place they all visit - the magnificent temples of Bagan. Among the tourists and the countries they come from, it's generated a critical debate about how to deal with Burma. Should it be declared an international pariah with economic sanctions, or is engagement with the regime more likely to bring democracy and improve the lives of the Burmese? The most senior UN official in Burma says some level of engagement is essential.
CHARLES PETRIE, UN CHIEF OF MISSION: I mean, there's some basic survival needs that must be met, and whatever the political process, whatever the political regime, you know, they have to be met.
REPORTER: What are they?
CHARLES PETRIE: One is to keep people alive. People have to be alive - so free from or survive diseases, some very lethal diseases, both in terms of what's happening in the country but also as far as, you know, if one is not able to check the progress of HIV/AIDS or the spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis or resistant forms of malaria. It's not only having an impact on the county but it will also have an impact on neighbouring countries' attempts to control these diseases.
In a country of 53 million people, an estimated 360,000 are believed to be HIV positive. Its prevalence rate makes it one of the more serious epidemics in South-East Asia. And in a country where health spending is less than 50 cents per person each year, there are real fears the HIV rate will increase.
I'm on my way to meet a young woman who is HIV positive. She is prepared to speak out about the disease and is working in her community to promote awareness. She has asked that I meet her at night, not out of fear of the regime, but so her neighbours are less likely to gossip.
THAN YAW SIN (Translation): Here's a picture. Mum will show you. A picture. A picture. Someone is getting an injection.
Than Yaw Sin, not her real name, found out she was HIV positive when her truck driver husband became ill. She had just fallen pregnant with her youngest daughter who has now also tested positive.
THAN YAW SIN (Translation): I'm afraid to tell her. For the last two or three months I've started making her take medicine. I can't give her proper drugs yet, so I'm training her with vitamins. When she needs the drugs she will be used to taking them.
Than Yaw Sin gets antiretroviral drug treatment through an international aid agency, in part because she helps educate others about the disease. Min Htet is another of the lucky ones. He's just started treatment.
THAN YAW SIN (Translation): Have you completed one week?
MIN HTET (Translation): It will be one week tomorrow.
THAN YAW SIN (Translation): Show me your lips. It's better. It's peridontosis.
MIN HTET (Translation): I can't eat rice, my throat aches. I have to eat very soft food a bit at a time. The drug's too strong. Side effects.
THAN YAW SIN (Translation): I told you there'd be problems for a week or so.
Than Yaw Sin also knows funding for her program will run out soon.
THAN YAW SIN (Translation): They said the drugs might be available for two years. If I'm lucky, they may still be available after that. I really hope so. That 2-year limit does worry me.
But these HIV programs are under threat. Late last year the international NGO the Global Fund announced it was shutting down its $130 million campaign due to increased restrictions from the regime.
BRIAN WILLIAMS, UNAIDS COUNTRY CO-ORDINATOR: For example, over five years I think about 5,000 more people were going to receive antiretroviral treatment, the 100% condom program of the government was going to be scaled up with Global Fund resources, other activities were also going to be scaled up. We don't have resources for that now.
In Burma, people refer to life here as "living on the inside". A train journey on Rangoon's circle line takes you past one of the country's most notorious institutions, the aptly named Insein Prison. It is here that respected student leader Min Ko Naing, seen by many as the most significant political leader behind Aung San Suu Kyi, is believed to be held, one of 1,500 political prisoners jailed across the nation. To be caught filming here would be to invite imprisonment. But posing as a tourist who is unaware what lies behind these walls I am able to get away with it. In a rare show of organised dissent, a petition calling for Min Ko Naing's release and other political leaders detained with him has seen over 500,000 signatures secretly gathered across the nation.
AING NAIN OO, EXILED POLITICAL ANALYST: That will be the beginning of some sort of social movement, although this may not be... this may not amount to a national uprising or anything like that, but this is something. And it is significant because Burma is essentially a police state and the idea that you can do something like that is astounding.
I'm shown the petition signed by the family of this man. For their safety, I cannot reveal their names or faces. A man caught with copies of this petition has since been jailed for three years. This campaign has now closed. Opposition to the regime has now started an all-faith prayer campaign. Shwedagon Pagoda, the country's most revered temple, the focal point in the protest that is fanning out across the country. In a country as repressive as Burma, these are the first signs of organised resistance in a very long time.
REPORTER:
So what do you see the future here for Burma?
LUDU SIN WEIN:
We, the country, the whole country is just like it is sitting on a powder keg. It can explode any time. Because the situation of the people all over the country, all over are worsening by every hours, not by days.
Reporter/Camera: GINNY STEIN
Editors: WAYNE LOVE, ROWAN TUCKER-EVANS, NICK O’BRIEN, DAVID POTTS
Producer: MARTIN BUTLER
Translation: AUNG THU NYEIN, SAW SWEENERSOE THAKO
Subtitles: TOKE HAN, HSO HOM SAO
Executive Producer: MIKE CAREY
Blacklisted as a journalist six years ago for no stated reason, I've come back to Burma on a tourist visa. It's my only way in and the only way to independently report on this closed country and its cowed people.
I'm being taken to meet one of the country's most respected journalists. The man guiding me knows he'd be sent to prison if caught helping. Once I arrive, my guide slips away. Ludu Sin Wein has been waiting.
LUDU SIN WEIN, VETERAN POLITICAL JOURNALIST: Yes, there are many risks for every Burmese citizen you see to talk to the foreigners, especially to a journalist. If you print or you broadcast our opinion, we can be imprisoned any time.
REPORTER: So why do it? I mean you agreed to meet with me, why?
LUDU SIN WEIN: Because, somebody has to take risk to let the world community know what is really happening in our country.
U Sin Wein is prepared to talk because he's old and now very sick. On an oxygen tank and partially paralysed from a stroke he suffered in prison, his one hope now is that he will outlast the generals.
LUDU SIN WEIN: Looking, living a free man's life a day, is worth. Spending, you see, a generation like a slave. We are just like slaves. These days, you see, I am always reading, every day, you see, I have free time. I used to read 'Animal Farm', '1984', we are just like in those situation.
For over 40 years, Burma has been a brutal military dictatorship. In 1990, the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won the only election in a landslide, but it's never been allowed to take power. Since then, the military's repression has worsened. As I secretly return, those brave enough to speak out are doing so for one reason - that their plight won't be forgotten by the rest of the world.
Outside of the old capital, Rangoon, a constitutional convention is taking place. A rare occasion where a few selected foreign media are granted access of sorts. To counter international sanctions the military has been hard at work for the past 13 years writing the country's constitution.
Everyone assumes it will guarantee the military's hold on power, but the regime claims it is the first hurdle in a 7-step road map to democracy.
KYAW HSAN, BURMESE INFORMATION MINISTER: We will take more time than the previous ones. So you can see our intention, how we would like to finish National Convention as quickly as possible.
DOMINIC FAULDER, BANGKOK BASED JOURNALIST: There's nothing very encouraging about this convention. It's taken them 13 years not to get it through.
With opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest and her National League for Democracy not attending the talks, no-one outside the military regime is giving the convention any credibility.
LUDU SIN WEIN: Now the whole world is watching this National Convention but you can ask anyone on the road, nobody is interested in this convention. Ordinary people have no interest at all. They don't believe something will come out for their good.
Perhaps the most bizarre element of this deeply paranoid regime is the way crucial decisions are made according to astrology. Backyard astrologer Daw San San, not her real name, has relied on numerological predictions to help her cope with life and loss in Burma.
DAW THANDAR, BACKYARD ASTROLOGER, (Translation): He was 60 years old when he died. He was only 50 when he was imprisoned.
Over the years, astrology and numerology have guided crucial decisions of the regime, like bank notes in strange denominations, overnight changing which side of the road people drove on, and now Burma's capital is being moved to the remote jungle. It's like an Orwellian nightmare.
DAW THANDAR (Translation): They've always wanted the number nine. For example, three and six, or two and seven, or one and eight. They all add up to nine. They are superstitious.
The first time residents of Rangoon were aware that they no longer lived in the capital came on a surreal Sunday morning last November. Sirens blew, and at 6:37am precisely trucks loaded with public servants began to roll out of Rangoon, headed for the secret mountain compound 350 kilometres to the north. The capital of Burma had now moved, and that's where I am now headed with a hidden camera.
When I arrive in Pyinmana, the closest town to the new capital, I am told that foreign tourists are not permitted to stay. Instead, completely unexpectedly, and for reasons I am yet to fathom, I'm taken to a resort-style hotel inside the secret city.
REPORTER: Is this part of Naypyidaw?
DRIVER: City hall.
REPORTER: City hall.
Such is the generals' paranoia that in March this year two Burmese journalists were jailed for three years for trying to do what I'm doing - filming the new capital being built.
I'm still a little stunned to find myself here at one of the half a dozen new resorts built to cater for the new capital, Naypyidaw. The hotel Mat Taw Win is yet to be officially opened. Construction is still under way, but it's obviously part of a grand plan. Its location is described as being in the hotel zone opposite the embassies compound.
Dateline has now obtained smuggled photographs taken on site by an engineer involved in helping to construct the capital. Seen here for the first time, they show not just the plans for the entire site and its buildings, but also the new airport just outside this emerging city.
This is the Foreign Affairs building. Work is still under way. Diplomats have to apply in writing if they wish to visit. I've since learnt the reason why foreigners are banned from staying in the nearby town of Pyinmana. Tremors are often felt at night. and it's not seismic activity, but explosions. Sources say the military is building a network of underground bunkers.
Two companies reportedly control 80% of the contracts for the multimillion-dollar move - Htoo Corporation - owned by Tayza, the regime's main arms buyer - and Asia World.
REPORTER: How long has this place been here? This has to be new, this hotel?
WOMAN: Yes.
REPORTER: And is it a Myanmar company?
WOMAN: Yes, Asia company. Asia World.
REPORTER: Asia World?
WOMAN: Those who belong to Steven Law.
REPORTER: Oh, OK. No problem. 200. 400.
Construction at this resort continues into the night. I am able to film a little from the doorway of my room, but fear being caught. Tonight I appear to be the only paying guest. Tomorrow I will leave early. Only 30 kilometres from the new capital a desperate battle for survival is taking place.
MAN (Translation):
The conditions in the camp aren't good. The school buildings aren't finished yet. As for food, we have to go and look for it. The food that is supplied isn’t adequate.
Ever since the decision to build the new capital, the Burmese army has intensified its attacks on the Karen - clearing out surrounding villages in an attempt to dominate the area. Since 1996, more than 2,800 Karen villages have been destroyed. 1 million people are now internally displaced. Volunteer medics led this group of villagers to this protected valley close to the border with Thailand. Htain Maung, not her real name, is expecting another baby. Her husband died on his way here. They were unable to get medical help when he came down with malaria.
HTAIN MAUNG (Translation): We were in the jungle, so there was no medicine. Because of where we were there was no medication and he got worse and worse. He just kept getting worse. We didn’t have any friends, no one to help us. The Karen soldiers found me, they found me and took pity on me. They took me to other Karen soldiers at the district command, my husband died and I went to the district command. Then when other people came, I left with them to come here.
In recent years, a minor chink in Burma's isolation has opened up. Now tourists are allowed in, and this is one place they all visit - the magnificent temples of Bagan. Among the tourists and the countries they come from, it's generated a critical debate about how to deal with Burma. Should it be declared an international pariah with economic sanctions, or is engagement with the regime more likely to bring democracy and improve the lives of the Burmese? The most senior UN official in Burma says some level of engagement is essential.
CHARLES PETRIE, UN CHIEF OF MISSION: I mean, there's some basic survival needs that must be met, and whatever the political process, whatever the political regime, you know, they have to be met.
REPORTER: What are they?
CHARLES PETRIE: One is to keep people alive. People have to be alive - so free from or survive diseases, some very lethal diseases, both in terms of what's happening in the country but also as far as, you know, if one is not able to check the progress of HIV/AIDS or the spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis or resistant forms of malaria. It's not only having an impact on the county but it will also have an impact on neighbouring countries' attempts to control these diseases.
In a country of 53 million people, an estimated 360,000 are believed to be HIV positive. Its prevalence rate makes it one of the more serious epidemics in South-East Asia. And in a country where health spending is less than 50 cents per person each year, there are real fears the HIV rate will increase.
I'm on my way to meet a young woman who is HIV positive. She is prepared to speak out about the disease and is working in her community to promote awareness. She has asked that I meet her at night, not out of fear of the regime, but so her neighbours are less likely to gossip.
THAN YAW SIN (Translation): Here's a picture. Mum will show you. A picture. A picture. Someone is getting an injection.
Than Yaw Sin, not her real name, found out she was HIV positive when her truck driver husband became ill. She had just fallen pregnant with her youngest daughter who has now also tested positive.
THAN YAW SIN (Translation): I'm afraid to tell her. For the last two or three months I've started making her take medicine. I can't give her proper drugs yet, so I'm training her with vitamins. When she needs the drugs she will be used to taking them.
Than Yaw Sin gets antiretroviral drug treatment through an international aid agency, in part because she helps educate others about the disease. Min Htet is another of the lucky ones. He's just started treatment.
THAN YAW SIN (Translation): Have you completed one week?
MIN HTET (Translation): It will be one week tomorrow.
THAN YAW SIN (Translation): Show me your lips. It's better. It's peridontosis.
MIN HTET (Translation): I can't eat rice, my throat aches. I have to eat very soft food a bit at a time. The drug's too strong. Side effects.
THAN YAW SIN (Translation): I told you there'd be problems for a week or so.
Than Yaw Sin also knows funding for her program will run out soon.
THAN YAW SIN (Translation): They said the drugs might be available for two years. If I'm lucky, they may still be available after that. I really hope so. That 2-year limit does worry me.
But these HIV programs are under threat. Late last year the international NGO the Global Fund announced it was shutting down its $130 million campaign due to increased restrictions from the regime.
BRIAN WILLIAMS, UNAIDS COUNTRY CO-ORDINATOR: For example, over five years I think about 5,000 more people were going to receive antiretroviral treatment, the 100% condom program of the government was going to be scaled up with Global Fund resources, other activities were also going to be scaled up. We don't have resources for that now.
In Burma, people refer to life here as "living on the inside". A train journey on Rangoon's circle line takes you past one of the country's most notorious institutions, the aptly named Insein Prison. It is here that respected student leader Min Ko Naing, seen by many as the most significant political leader behind Aung San Suu Kyi, is believed to be held, one of 1,500 political prisoners jailed across the nation. To be caught filming here would be to invite imprisonment. But posing as a tourist who is unaware what lies behind these walls I am able to get away with it. In a rare show of organised dissent, a petition calling for Min Ko Naing's release and other political leaders detained with him has seen over 500,000 signatures secretly gathered across the nation.
AING NAIN OO, EXILED POLITICAL ANALYST: That will be the beginning of some sort of social movement, although this may not be... this may not amount to a national uprising or anything like that, but this is something. And it is significant because Burma is essentially a police state and the idea that you can do something like that is astounding.
I'm shown the petition signed by the family of this man. For their safety, I cannot reveal their names or faces. A man caught with copies of this petition has since been jailed for three years. This campaign has now closed. Opposition to the regime has now started an all-faith prayer campaign. Shwedagon Pagoda, the country's most revered temple, the focal point in the protest that is fanning out across the country. In a country as repressive as Burma, these are the first signs of organised resistance in a very long time.
REPORTER:
So what do you see the future here for Burma?
LUDU SIN WEIN:
We, the country, the whole country is just like it is sitting on a powder keg. It can explode any time. Because the situation of the people all over the country, all over are worsening by every hours, not by days.
Reporter/Camera: GINNY STEIN
Editors: WAYNE LOVE, ROWAN TUCKER-EVANS, NICK O’BRIEN, DAVID POTTS
Producer: MARTIN BUTLER
Translation: AUNG THU NYEIN, SAW SWEENERSOE THAKO
Subtitles: TOKE HAN, HSO HOM SAO
Executive Producer: MIKE CAREY