>> this is "bbc newsnight." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you?

>> and now "bbc newsnight." >> this week, and a special edition of news night, i have been to burma to witness the elections and see if life is really changing their. aung san suu kyi might have helped her party sweep to victory but is the government really moving towards democracy or is simply giving the impression of doing so? >> are you not worried that you are being being used to give the perception of legitimacy? >> if i'm going to be used to save the nation, that is fine by me. >> inside of the northern region where foreign observers abound and war rages between rebels and

government forces. >> everyone was running. my mother did not, so they shot her. i went back and i found her, then i buried her. >> it was an event that aung san suu kyi probably doubted she would ever seek penn -- doubted she would ever see. power remains in the hands of a bunch of generals who control and indeed owned much of burma. there might have been an easing of sanctions announced by the u.s. in response. the elections have not created democracy in place of autocracy. in her victory speech, aung san suu kyi recognize how far her

country had come and how far it still had to go. >> we hope that this is the beginning of a new era where there will be more if this is on the will of the people. we hope that we would be able to go further towards national reconciliation. we welcome all parties that wish to join us in the process of bringing peace and prosperity to our region. >> how much of burma has changed? the government says they have implemented many reforms. as i found out, they don't add up to much. [bell ringing] burma has an unchanging quality. the beauty of the country, the spirituality, and the misfortune of its jet the people to be

bullied by a cruel military regime. change has taken place in that last respect and breathtaking speed. there had been elections, the parliament, and they are about to take a see it there. is this anything more than just a talking shop? is aung san suu kyi being used by the government to gain legitimacy in the outside world. how real is change in burma? burma is definitely losing out. there is a girl band that has recently formed. they expressed the frustrations

of the young generation. >> we just heard about that and we have never seen this because we were under military government and we have to do what they want to do and we cannot do what they don't want. >> perhaps because they do not push the barriers and a political way, the censorship board has been lax. they go as far as they can. >> things have not been so easy for others. the government claimed that they will relax controls on the media. every saturday, a messenger arrives. this weekly is published in english and burmese. he comes with instructions on

what can and one that cannot seem to be printed in the paper. -- on what can and what cannot seem to be printed in the paper. the pages on corruption in government have to go. what is the matter with that article? >> this is about the labor unions which is really sensitive to them. and sometimes we can print, but mostly they cut. >> and other office, they are equally confused about the strikes. >> he tries to help workers from a shoe factory. they work 8 hour days, six days a week, and they want to strike and form a trade union.

this shows the pood of repression from which they are fighting free to form a trade union. they say that we can only perform a workers' organization. what is the difference? >> we have to have a new labor laws in this country that gives rise to workers. the government knows they have to accept this if they're going to encourage investment from abroad. they say that we can for workers' organizations but they don't want us to form real trade unions so that workers cannot link up with the international trade unions abroad. >> this man is not a word about the problems with his television set. it just needs to be hit now and then. radio and television is not worth watching, he says. you don't hear anything about

real issues, nothing about labor disputes, or demonstrations. this was a video journalist for a fashion company from abroad. he was sentenced to jail after the uprising. he was released in january and is part of the government reform. >> when the revolution happened, we took these pictures to show the outside world what was really happening in burma. how the monks let the people in the revolt. we told that hundreds of us were in prison or fled abroad. it is still forbidden to talk about the existing political prisoners. >> most people to know that there are still political prisoners.

when men come, it makes me anxious, she explains. her son says that there is someone standing around outside and he locked the door. >> they always come at night when the rest my husband, 8 times and all. the last time was in 2007. we always kept his back because we never knew when they would arrive for when he was taken. >> what was your husband's crime? >> he was arrested for being involved in politics and for supporting aung san suu kyi's party, and for working for human rights. i have no idea when i will see him again. only those that arrested him know. >> journalist and foreign observers have been allowed into burma for the elections, but in many other respects, the reform program does not add up to much. senior members of her own party have questions her decision.

are you not worried that you're being used to give up legitimacy? >> if i'm going to be used for the sake of the nation, that is fine. >> she assured us that she would like to introduce changes to the country, like the rule of law and the revocation of poverty. her own constituency spread over a wide area of the delta at which to be a good place to start. it was devastating with a cyclone four years ago. they all have to go to the jungle and rebuild their houses. bamboo is the only thing that they have here in any quantity. the government gave us nothing, he said, only a local businesses help by giving us some rice.

he lives and a house with no electricity or water. the government has spent a tiny fraction on education and health and it shows. >> life is a struggle. we tried to save money to send children to school. they need money to pay for a doctor. >> in this village, they knew anything about the elections. >> i heard something on a radio, this woman said. it is as though the government does not exist. at of the government party headquarters, they would not let me in to talk. i wanted to ask them why the government spends so little on its people. locals here are more aware.

>> the government gives us nothing, says this man. they're always cheating, always lying. we voted for aung san suu kyi, this woman says, because she suffered and sacrificed so much. the president was head of the relief team after the cyclone that killed more than 100,000 people here. the government's inability to cope with the disaster was the wake-up call for him, alerting him to the country's desperate need for development. that means putting the huge wealth in shade, precious stones, timber, oil, gas, to use other than just making the generals rich and this is where the election of aung san suu kyi fits into the plan. the currency here is being floated to encourage foreign investment. now, aung san suu kyi can enter

parliament and they hope the sanctions will be lifted. the european union is to debate the issue later this month. at a party and ran doom, i am introduced to people by name and the number of years there were sentenced to jail. in 1988, there was a revolt was started the campaign for democracy. >> how was she sentenced? 75 years. you? 55 years. between them, they have spent hundreds of years in jail and many were released only weeks ago. what did they expect now? this man -- this woman served 12 years in prison. >> european union should force the government to implement the

process and bring together a government that is in the interests of the people. >> this man spent 15 years in jail. >> i don't agree with the sanctions, the partial lifting would be o.k. but only after the remaining prisoners have been released. only when the constitution has been allowed to have full democracy, only then should the sanctions be lifted. >> for now, there is rejoicing that there has been a genuine political breakthrough here. the country's opposition party and their leader now have a voice in parliament. these people hope that the momentum will keep going and to bring about real change.

>> aung san suu kyi does have the support of the president, who she believes is a true reformer. both have taken big risks to get to the stage but the unknown factor remains the military and how far it is willing to go towards a democracy. not everywhere had a chance to celebrate the the results. and some areas, it did not happen at all, canceled on security grounds because of the war between government forces and rebels. within burma, neither agencies or journalists are allowed into that region. myself and my cameraman managed to get there. we can defeat the enemy, sing the new recruits. they are at their training ground on the island that they control.

well freedom and democracy are being celebrated, theirs is one of several armies that have been fighting the burmese army off and on for the last half century. the fighting is very much on going. training has been cut from three to two months to get these men and women to the front. >> the army soldiers came into our village, they were firing their guns and shooting at the old people that could not run. they raped five women, stole our livestock, and set fire to our homes. i am old, i am 42, but that is why i joined up. >> the landscape is littered with burned out villages from where people fled their homes with their lives and little else.

>> we don't have enough food, we left with nothing, and so my husband crept back to the village to get some rice the into when he did not return, i would back and found his body. they had shot him in the chest, stabbed him in the face. >> when they hear that the army is on its way, they run. this man's wife had given birth to just days earlier and could not keep up. >> the next day i went back to look for her and found that they had killed her. it went all the way through to her arm on the right. i found our baby alive next to her mother. i grabbed her and ran.

>> everyone was running but my mother did not and they shot her. i would back and found her body i put it in the deep holes that had been out as a cesspit. it took 10 of us to get the body out. then i buried her. >> the survivors are now crowded into makeshift camps where there are not enough basics like food and water, let alone any hope of comfort for the trauma that they have endured. we have heard reports of brutality, about the military dictatorship that has ruled burma for 50 years but all of these recent stories of atrocities have taken place within the past few months even though the allegedly reforming government held elections over a year ago and promised change. the people can be forgiven for

being confused. the government does not want the outside world to see these people because their plight contradicts the new image they want to present. they are restricting aid coming in from the international community, even though this desperately needed. the administrators say that there are more than 1800 people in this camp and there is not enough food, medicine, shelter. the children might find it all a game now, he says, but when the rainy season starts, it will be a nightmare. tb has broken out in the camps and malnutrition is prevalent. my son is not recovering from his illness and he is not growing, says this mother. i have nothing to feed him.

another mother with four children feared for her unborn child. >> the children say they are hungry all the time and i am i getting in attrition a pregnant woman needs. we long to return to our villages but how can we? the burmese hate us and their army will only attack us again. >> both sides blame the other for starting the fighting in june last year with the army using artillery against people armed with ak-47s and homemade weapon. the fighting intensified in december, about the time that hillary clinton are arrived in burma to encourage the government with its reform program. landmines cause the most casualties among the army of some 20,000 who are now struggling to hold out against the burmese army of half a

million. over 100 soldiers have died, hundreds more have been injured, and no one civilian dead. this 31-year-old lost his leg in december and says he would like to get back to fighting. the doctor in charge of the military hospital says the soldiers get the best treatment available but that is not up to much. >> we lack of medicines, prosthetics, everything, really. they want me to get these men back to the front but considering the facilities that we have here, that is not realistic. >> the front lines are just a few hundred meters away from the hospital and where people are living. you can see the burmese position on the hill opposite and no one is sure when they will attack next. >> we can attack their position

and overrun it but we don't want to go on the offensive. >> it is quite here today, the capt. explains, because fighting has move further north where the army is attacking daily. shortly after hillary clinton's visit, and under pressure from the international community, the new president ordered the army to stop fighting. why haven't they? >> i think there are two reasons. the first is that under the new constitution, the president does not have that much power over the army and secondly, the president does not have the support of the army generals because it would like to reform the country. >> but the generals have for a long time enjoy the wealth of these border areas which are rich in timber, gold, jade. if they are at odds with the

present, this could slow down both reform and a solution to the ethnic conflict. the mainly christians say that they don't want independence, they want equal treatment. their political party was excluded from the elections in 2010 and the government has postponed by-elections in the state, blaming security problems. >> what they want is equal rights. if they were to offer genuine democratic union, this conflict could be solved. >> ongoing peace talks between this group and the burmese government taking place in china. the border runs through the main town here and china is weary of the ongoing war on its doorstep.

there has been a failure to make an agreement. why? >> to get an agreement, the government is being asked to withdraw their troops. politically, the government is making advances towards democracy and this has concluded the -- and they have included the opposition, on some sunday. there will be no progress 40 asking people. -- the government is making advances toward democracy and they have included aung san suu kyi. there will be no progress for us. >> the situation in the camps here will get worse. those who have been here say that they are trained to go home, much more immediately. they are praying that the food does not run out.

in this camp of 5000, the ration is down to 1 cup of rice per day per child and two cups for an adult. agencies to want to get in to help say that they are struggling to get here. the british government has pledged 2 billion pounds in aid to help people suffering. when the british foreign secretary was here earlier this year, he said that the sanctions should not be lifted until the government allows the 8 to get here. -- aid to get here. there are huge economic interests for the sanctions to be -- there are huge economic interests for the u.s., and they would like to the sanctions to be lifted. as the army took us on patrol along the front line that

stretches hundreds of miles to the jungle, the commander told me that they're grateful to the british for giving them the model on which to build. over the intimacy of a campfire at night, there is bitterness about their former military ally. >> the british did not forget us in the time of need. when they needed us, we fought for them against the japanese. we are now suffering horribly. surely, this is the time when they should help us. >> for now, they sing of defending their land from exploitation by burma. they know full well that there

-- that they are running short on weapons, manpower, and support. the rebel fighters in northern burma. that is all from us this week. goodbye. >> funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offered expertise and his ablutions for small businesses and major corporations.

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