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Panorama
Season 65 • Episode 45 • The Billion Pound VAT Scam
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Panorama Season 65, Episode 45: The Billion Pound VAT Scam
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48 episodesTerror on the Beach: Why Did It Happen?
Panorama returns to the scene of the killing of 30 British tourists by a gunman on the beach at Sousse in June 2015. Reporter Jane Corbin investigates whether security concerns were ignored before the attack and if lives could have been saved on the day. She asks why there wasn't tighter security or a warning to holidaymakers to stay away from Tunisia after similar attacks. And should the Tunisian government, the British tour operators and the Foreign Office bear any responsibility for what happened?
Trump: The Kremlin Candidate?
On the eve of the new president's inauguration, Panorama investigates Donald Trump's strange bromance with Vladimir Putin. John Sweeney - who has confronted both men in the past - travels to Russia, the United States and the battlefields in Ukraine to report on what's behind their mutual admiration. He investigates whether Russian cyber-warriors helped get Donald Trump into the White House and asks how safe the world will be if they stay friends - or if the bromance falls apart.
The Battle Against Legal Highs
The drugs that were known as legal highs have become a global phenomenon. They have exploded in popularity in the UK, and deaths from these chemical compounds, designed to mimic illegal drugs like cocaine and cannabis, have tripled here in recent years. In May 2016, the government acted by banning these drugs with the introduction of the Psychoactive Substances Act. The north east of England is one of the worst-hit areas for drug addiction. Panorama spent six months in Newcastle to see how the city is tackling the problem and asks whether the new law is working.
The Mystery of the Unknown Man
The police and social services were baffled when an elderly man with an American accent was found lost on the streets of Hereford. He didn't know who he was or have any ID, and he was dressed from head to toe in brand new clothes from Tesco. He was in a nursing home before Panorama took up his case. Reporter Darragh Macintyre follows the clues to America and unravels the mystery of the unknown man - before confronting the person responsible for bringing him to Britain.
Revealed: Britain's Mental Health Crisis
One month after prime minister Theresa May promised to 'transform the way we deal with mental health problems right across society', reporter Sophie Hutchinson investigates the troubled state of NHS mental health services. She hears the concerns of staff and patients at the first mental health trust in England to be placed in special measures, and learns of the deteriorating national picture for mental health care funding, exclusively revealing new figures that show a shocking increase in unexpected deaths of mental health patients.
Behind Bars: Prison Undercover
An undercover investigation reveals the reality of life behind bars in Britain's crisis-hit prison system. Footage recorded by a reporter also working as an officer at a Category C adult prison shows how inmates are effectively running the prison, with many of them off their heads on drugs and drink. It also reveals how prison officers don't feel able to maintain control and how they are at risk themselves. The programme also finds little evidence of rehabilitation or change, where some weak prisoners suffer, career criminals profit while jailed, drug addicts simply change which drugs they smoke, and the prisoners who could change their ways are being ignored. It comes as the government faces repeated warnings about the crisis inside Britain's prisons. There have been up to four riots in the last three and a half months, 354 deaths in prison last year and 6,430 assaults on staff in the year to September 2016.
Life in Immigration Town
What happens when a community is changed by immigration? Slough has gone from a majority white British town to a place where they are the minority. Ten years ago, Panorama's Richard Bilton reported on how Slough was struggling to cope with its migrant population. Now he's back. He finds a town with a booming economy and new families arriving every day. But there is a darker side. White British people are abandoning Slough, and some foreign workers say the dream is over.
Sleepless Britain
Britain's kids are going to bed later and sleeping less, and hospital visits triggered by poor sleep have tripled in ten years. This is playing havoc with children's health and education and causing obesity, problems for parents and teachers, and even family breakdowns. In this film, reporter Jenny Kleeman finds that children's rocketing use of technology coupled with more lax modern parenting is creating an epidemic of poor sleep. Jenny visits a sleep charity in Doncaster that gets up to 200 emails a day from desperate parents. She meets Jayne, mum to a toddler who takes up to four hours to go to sleep, and follows them as they trial a firmer bedtime routine. At Honley High School in Yorkshire, Jenny investigates how poor sleep is affecting pupils' concentration and behaviour in class. Jenny also visits the sleep lab at Sheffield Children's Hospital, which has seen a tenfold increase in referrals in the last decade.
Marine A: The Inside Story
Three years ago Alexander Blackman, better known as Marine A, became the first serving British soldier to be convicted of murder since the Second World War for the killing of a badly injured Taliban insurgent on the battlefield. He has now had his murder conviction reduced to manslaughter. Panorama re-examines the case to find out what really happened on that fateful day, six years ago. Film-maker and anthropologist Chris Terrill has been following the case since the beginning, including meeting Blackman a number of times in prison. Chris has spent many years working with the Royal Marines and was embedded with Blackman's unit at the time the incident occurred in Afghanistan. He has tracked down some of the men who were with Blackman that day and they speak for the first time about the six-month tour that proceeded the killing and reveal disturbing new insights about the day itself. Questions are raised about whether there were other pressures on Blackman to act. Using material Chris shot in Afghanistan when embedded with Blackman's unit, the film provides a stark sense of what it was like to be stationed in a 'kill or be killed' outpost set in what was then described as 'the most dangerous square mile in the world'. The new evidence is presented for the first time and raises concerns about the way our soldiers fight wars and apply ethics on the battlefield. The outcome of the Marine A case could well shape the way we fight our wars in the future.
Britain's Home-Care Crisis
As hospitals struggle to cope with growing numbers of older patients, Panorama investigates the challenges facing those on the front line of a social care system buckling under the strain, and reveals a nationwide shortage of home-care workers. Filming in North Wales and Liverpool, reporter Sian Lloyd meets domiciliary care company owners struggling to recruit carers because they can't afford to pay them enough, whilst others are handing back council contracts because they can't make the numbers work. At the heart of this crisis are the people waiting for care - many of them in NHS beds, fit to go home, but unable to be discharged until a home-care package can be found.
Westminster Terror Attack
Last week, the UK Parliament came under attack in the most serious terror incident in the country for over a decade. Speaking to witnesses and the injured, BBC Panorama pieces together what happened during the attack that left five people, including the attacker, dead and many more injured. The programme also looks into the life of Khalid Masood to ask what motivated him to carry out this fatal terror attack in the heart of London.
Marine Le Pen: Who's Funding France's Far Right?
France votes for a new president in a few weeks, and far right candidate Marine Le Pen has her sights set on victory. She is trying to detoxify her party to distance herself from its racist and anti-Semitic past. However, Gabriel Gatehouse explores how the Front National's desperate need for money could be undermining this process. He meets fixers and insiders who have helped Marine Le Pen run her campaign and raise money from some controversial sources around the world.
The Benefits Cap: Is it Working?
How far should we go to force unemployed people back into work? Tens of thousands of families on benefits have had their payments cut as part of a radical government policy. Out-of-work benefits used to be assessed on need, but now payments in most of the country are capped at £20,000 a year. Panorama follows parents who have lost hundreds of pounds a month and are struggling to keep their homes - knowing that to escape the benefit cap they will have to find a job.
The Big Bank Fix
Following the acquittal of two former Barclay's traders, Panorama asks if the right people are being blamed for what has been called the biggest financial fix of all time. Piecing together explosive new evidence, which calls into question the safety of other convictions, Panorama reporter Andy Verity reveals that manipulation of the world's most important interest rate, Libor, was allowed and even ordered by people at the highest levels of the financial establishment.
The Spy in the IRA
In the murky world of British intelligence during the Northern Ireland conflict, one agent's life appears to have mattered more than others. Codenamed Stakeknife, Freddie Scappaticci rose through the ranks of the IRA to run their internal security unit. He was the IRA's chief spy catcher, in charge of rooting out those suspected of collaborating with the British. But all the time he was in fact working for the British intelligence services. Panorama reveals that a classified report links Scappatici to at least 18 murders. Some of these victims were themselves agents and informers. Scappaticci, the intelligence agencies who tasked him and the IRA to whom he also answered are the subject of a criminal enquiry. Panorama discloses how he kept his cover by having the blood of other agents on his hands, how the intelligence agencies appeared to tolerate this and why he has been protected for so long.
Trump's First 100 Days
We're getting used to seeing a new Trump headline every day - or even several times a day. But we're all still clueless about what to expect next. A missile strike on Syria from an avowed America first president? As the unpredictable president approaches his milestone hundredth day in office, Jeremy Paxman crosses the US for a wry and searching examination of the whirlwind past three months. He'll attempt to make sense of the Trump agenda - and ask if it even makes sense to the man himself. Jeremy digs into the stories behind Trump's most controversial policies - visiting the home of North America's largest mosque to hear Arab-American experiences of the travel ban, and a north California migrant law centre that's working double-time. Amid the derelict factories of Detroit, he considers Trump's claims to be restoring America's economic fortunes. In Washington DC, Jeremy unpicks the phenomenon of fake news, and the consequences of Trump's self-declared 'war' on Washington itself. Grassroots critics and diehard cheerleaders tell us why they believe America will never be the same again. And senior figures from across the political divide - from Democrat deputy Senate leader Dick Durbin, Trump ally Ted Malloch, and former secretary of labour Robert Reich - share personal insights into Trump's White House and its new master. Jeremy asks what America - and the world - will look like after four years of Trump, and wonders if America's unlikely president might even have his sights set on four more.
Madeleine McCann: 10 Years On
Madeleine McCann is the world's most famous missing person. Her disappearance ten years ago has been investigated by police forces in two different countries, but they came up with contradictory conclusions. So what really happened to Madeleine in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz? Reporter Richard Bilton, who has covered the story for the BBC since the first days, examines the evidence and tracks down the men British police have questioned about the case.
What Facebook Knows About You
Facebook is thought to know more about us than any other business in history, but what does the social network that Mark Zuckerberg built do with all of our personal information?
Contaminated Blood: The Search for the Truth
It has been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS. More than 2,000 people died and thousands more were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C after being treated with contaminated blood products. All the victims were infected over 25 years ago, but even now new cases are still being diagnosed. Survivors and their families are trying once more to persuade the government to hold a UK public inquiry. Panorama examines recently released documents, and asks if the government could have done more to save lives. The film hears the heartbreaking testimony of some of the victims and their families and explores the dilemmas of doctors who had to carry on treating their patients through the unfolding crisis.
Inside the Litter Police
Panorama goes undercover inside Britain's litter police and reveals some of the methods behind the soaring litter fines - over 140,000 were handed out in 2015-2016. The programme hears from people who have been stung with fines for offences like pouring coffee down the drain, dropping tiny pieces of orange peel and even leaving out their weekly rubbish. The undercover reporter goes inside one leading private enforcement company, with over 50 council contracts, to capture the litter police in action and reveals the bonus system used to reward enforcement officers for the number of tickets they issue.
Manchester Attack: Terror at the Arena
One week on from the atrocity at the Manchester Arena, Tina Daheley reports on the attack targeted on the audience of thousands of young and teenage girls as they left a pop concert. She hears from concert attenders and parents, and investigates the community context and the extremist Islamist links behind the mass murder committed by the suspected suicide bomber, a 22-year-old man born of Libyan parents in the city.
Back to the Falklands: Brothers in Arms
In 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, and a task force of over 100 vessels and 26,000 men and women sailed 8,000 miles from Britain to defend the islands. In a short but brutal war lasting three weeks, hundreds died on both sides, the Argentinians were defeated, and the islands were reclaimed. But what happened after the parades were finished and the flags were put away? In this moving film, Panorama uses animation drawn by a Falklands War veteran to explore how the trauma of fighting a war can continue to affect soldiers even decades later. The film follows a group of Welsh Guards whose lives were shaped by their Falklands experience as they return for the first time to the islands to confront their demons.
Election 2017: What Just Happened?
Theresa May's election gamble has resulted in a catastrophic outcome for the Conservatives, whilst Jeremy Corbyn has defied many expectations. Following the election that's changed the face of British politics, Nick Robinson asks how and why it happened.
London Tower Fire: Britain's Shame
The fire that is believed to have started on the fourth floor of Grenfell Tower engulfed almost the entire 24-storey building at shocking speed. Firefighters battling the inferno say they have never seen anything like it before. Why were the fears of residents about fire safety apparently ignored and why did the flames rip so quickly through their council tower block? Richard Bilton investigates what happened that terrible night, as well as the grief and anger surrounding one of Britain's worst fire disasters in living memory, which occurred in one of its richest boroughs.
Cadet Abuse Cover-Up
As one of Britain's largest youth groups, the cadet forces are responsible for nearly 130,000 children in more than 3,000 clubs across the country. However, not all members have positive memories of their time within the ranks. They are victims of sexual abuse by their cadet instructors, and this abuse could have been stopped but wasn't. This investigation shines a light on a culture of cover-up across the UK which allowed abuse to continue. Reporter Katie Razzall reveals the deeply troubling evidence with serious questions now facing the government organisation in overall charge - the Ministry of Defence.
Britain's Food and Farming: The Brexit Effect
Brexit marks a seismic shift for the UK's food and farming industry, but what will it mean for the consumer? The EU affects the whole food chain from field to fork. It dictates what farmers are allowed to grow, sets animal welfare standards and offers a large supply of cheap labour to work in the fields and processing plants. Panorama's Tom Heap talks to insiders who claim Brexit will mean higher prices, lower quality and less choice on the shelves. Others claim it is a fantastic opportunity to address inefficiency and design a new mode of food production for the next generation. The programme also travels to the USA, where farming is run on an industrial scale. Will UK consumers back British farmers or switch to potentially cheaper imports of hormone-filled meat from abroad?
Trump's Fortress America
Donald Trump fought the US presidential election with a promise to send millions of illegal immigrants back to Mexico. While the world focuses on his troubles in Washington, Panorama investigates how behind the scenes Trump is putting his controversial deportation plans into action. Reporter Hilary Andersson meets families split by immigration arrests and children of detained parents left to fend for themselves. It has been claimed that Trump's policies are dividing America. The programme hears from those who support the deportations and films with police in Arizona as they hunt down illegal immigrants at night.
Men, Boys and Eating Disorders
Eating disorders have the highest death rate of any mental health illness and are estimated to affect 1.6 million people in the UK. Around 400,000 of these are thought to be men and boys, including international rugby referee Nigel Owens. Nigel meets men, boys and their families across the UK to hear their moving accounts of the devastating impact of anorexia and bulimia, as he sets out to investigate the reasons behind why more people are being diagnosed. In this deeply personal film, Nigel also opens up in detail about his own eating disorder for the first time as he confronts a dark truth about his battle with bulimia.
A Prescription for Murder?
Is it possible that a pill prescribed by your doctor can turn you into a killer? Over 40 million prescriptions for SSRI antidepressants were handed out by doctors last year in the UK. Panorama reveals the devastating side effects on a tiny minority that can lead to psychosis, violence, murder and possibly even mass murder. With exclusive access to psychiatric reports, court footage and drug company data, reporter Shelley Jofre investigates the mass killings at the 2012 midnight premiere of a Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado. A 24-year-old PhD student James Holmes, who had no record of violence or gun ownership, murdered 12 and injured 70. Did the SSRI antidepressant he had been prescribed play a part in the killings? Panorama has uncovered other cases of murder and extreme violence which could be linked to psychosis developed after the taking of SSRIs, including a father who strangled his 11-year-old son. Panorama asks if enough is known about this rare side effect.
Trouble at the RSPCA
The RSPCA, which has been rescuing and protecting animals for almost 200 years, is one of the best-loved charities in England and Wales. Last year it secured nearly 1,500 convictions for animal welfare offences. Now Panorama's John Sweeney - and his dog Bertie - meet people who accuse the RSPCA of being heavy-handed by prosecuting them and taking away their animals when help or advice would have been more appropriate. He also asks why an RSPCA branch rehomed dogs imported from Europe. Following the RSPCA chief executive's sudden resignation in June, John investigates what's going on at the top of the charity and meets former senior insiders who have concerns about the charity's governing council.
Plane Drunk
Panorama investigates the growing numbers of British passengers flying drunk. Tina Daheley uncovers shocking footage filmed by passengers and meets whistleblowers from the airline industry who reveal just how badly our journeys are being disrupted. With exclusive new figures showing a rise in drink-related incidents and arrests, Tina asks how some airlines are fighting the problem and meets the Majorcan official sick of Brits arriving on her island already drunk. Campaigners are pushing for new licensing laws, but with alcohol sales a key source of revenue for many airport retailers, is profit taking precedence over passenger convenience and safety?
Undercover: Britain's Immigration Secrets
On the front line of the fight to control immigration, BBC Panorama goes undercover in an Immigration Removal Centre and reveals chaos, incompetence and abuse. The centre is a staging post for detainees who face deportation from the UK. It is a toxic mix, and detainees who have overstayed visas or are seeking asylum can share rooms with foreign national criminals who have finished prison sentences. Some have been held in the privately run centre for many months, even years. The covert footage, recorded by a detainee custody officer, reveals widespread self-harm and attempted suicides in a centre where drugs, particularly the synthetic cannabis substitute spice, are rife. Many officers do their best to control the chaos, but some are recorded mocking, abusing and even assaulting detainees.
Why Mum Died: Britain's Sepsis Crisis
Is the health service facing up to a medical emergency that now kills more than any cancers and heart attacks? When Alistair Jackson's elderly mother died suddenly in her local hospital, he was told she had received the best care possible. It took him two years to uncover how the tell-tale signs of suspected sepsis were missed and how potentially life-saving antibiotics weren't administered for hours. After getting to the truth, he meets the families of some of the estimated 14,000 people whose deaths might have been prevented with better treatment and hears from the health professionals trying to tackle Britain's 'silent killer'. The film reveals how under-reporting of sepsis cases means the crisis is likely to be far deeper than thought. With exclusive access to NHS figures he discovers that despite high-profile improvement campaigns, people's chances of getting the best care can still depend on where they live - and goes back to his mother's hospital to ask if anything there has changed.
Africa's Billion Pound Migrant Trail
Panorama investigates the African migrant trade and reveals the extraordinary scale of people-smuggling across sub-Saharan Africa - a multibillion-pound industry described by some as a new 'slave trade'. As theEU desperately tries to cut the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, reporter Benjamin Zand investigates how hundreds of millions of euros of EU funding is being spent and asks if EU efforts to tackle the smugglers could be leaving some migrants in an ever more dangerous limbo.
Germany's New Nazis
Violent right-wing extremism in Germany has surged to its highest level since the downfall of the Third Reich, with a record number of attacks against asylum seekers and their supporters. Panorama has spent sixmonths in Freital, a small town at the heart of the new wave of far-right terror. As Germany goes to the polls, this film hears how long-held taboos are being broken in a country still haunted by its Nazi legacy and far-right views are becoming mainstream once more. Across the world, far-right extremists have been on the march, from Charlottesville in the United States to the suburbs of Paris and the streets of Manchester. But how worried should we be by the rise of the far right in Europe's most powerful country?
North Korea's Nuclear Trump Card
Trump versus Kim - it is the most chilling nuclear stand-off for decades. No longer is the world asking whether North Korea can be stopped from developing nuclear weapons but instead whether it can be stopped from using them. As the two leaders trade threats, reporter Jane Corbin investigates how North Korea has dodged sanctions and thwarted international efforts to stop it becoming a nuclear power. She also asks how the two leaders can move back from the brink and how likely it is this could all end in nuclear war.
When Kids Abuse Kids
Panorama investigates a hidden world of child sexual abuse, one in which children sexually assault other children. It's often referred to as 'peer-on-peer' abuse and can happen in classrooms and even in theplaygrounds of primary schools. In this part-animated film, children, interviewed anonymously to protect their identities, talk candidly about the abuse they have experienced and describe how they felt let down when they tried to report it. The programme also speaks to some parents who say they struggled to get help from schools, social services and the police. Using freedom of information requests, the programme reveals an increase in sexual offences carried out by under-18s on other children and a dramatic rise in sexual assaults committed by children even on school premises.
Hate on the Street
On the eve of Hate Crime Awareness Week, Panorama investigates what is happening on the country's streets. With exclusive access to the government's new crime figures, the programme reveals that race andreligious hate crime is at its highest since current records began in 2008. Reporter Livvy Haydock travels the country meeting victims and perpetrators to discover what is causing the rise in these hate-driven crimes. Official figures have already revealed a significant spike in hate crime immediately after the EU referendum. Now, a year on, Livvy discovers that hate crimes have remained higher than their pre-referendum average. Livvy meets young victims who still bear the physical and emotional scars of attacks and say they had never experienced race hate on this scale before the vote. But she also hears from residents in areas with a high number of reported race hate crimes who say that the race card is being played too easily and that Brexit is being blamed for wider social problems in their community.
How Safe is Your Operation?
Jailed surgeon Ian Paterson profited from hundreds of unnecessary operations, but do his crimes reveal wider failings in Britain's private healthcare? Reporter Darragh MacIntyre investigates whether some private hospitals - and those working within them - have put profit before patients. With thousands of NHS patients now being sent to private hospitals for their operations, he uncovers disturbing evidence about safety standards and patient care in parts of the private sector.
Life at 100
There are around 14,500 centenarians in the UK, a number predicted to double every ten years. One in every three babies born now is likely to live to be at least 100. Presented by Joan Bakewell, this Panorama Special follows seven people who have reached 100 years or more. Many are still alert and active, like 105-year-old Diana Gould, who exercises every day. Actor Earl Cameron's last part was at 97 in Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio. He is ready if his agent calls. Others are acutely lonely, like George Emmerson, an amateur painter and former tax officer, now living alone after his wife of 68 years died. But like many, he values his independence and still wants to live at home. Almost all need help and care from the government, the NHS, local authorities and families. But are they all prepared for life at a hundred?
Out of Jail: Free to Offend Again?
An investigation into the government's reforms of the probation service, which many critics say are putting the public at risk as well as failing offenders themselves. Reporter Daniel Foggo meets two women whose sons were murdered by offenders on probation following the reforms, which saw part of the service privatised. They believe that failures in supervision contributed to their sons' deaths. The programme also reveals evidence that offenders being supervised by one private company have missed thousands of appointments and no action was taken.
Offshore Secrets of the Rich Exposed
A special edition investigating a huge new leak of data that reveals how the wealthy and powerful invest offshore.
Britain's Offshore Secrets Exposed
Current affairs programme featuring interviews and investigative reports. Richard Bilton explores the secrets of Britain's offshore empire.
Student Loan Scandal
As the government backs private colleges to help open up higher education to all, Panorama goes undercover to expose how fraud is costing the taxpayer millions. Secret filming reveals how shady education agents are recruiting bogus students to private colleges so they can claim loans they are not entitled to. Reporter Richard Watson finds agents prepared to supply fraudulent qualifications, offer coursework for sale and fake attendance. It comes at a time when student debt has soared to one hundred billion pounds.
The Billion Pound VAT Scam
Jihadis You Pay For
Millions of pounds of British aid money have been spent trying to bring security to Syria and to protect the UK from terrorism. But whistleblowers say our development efforts have been undermined by mismanagement, waste and corruption. Using hundreds of leaked documents, reporter Jane Corbin pieces together the shocking truth about one of the government's flagship foreign aid projects. She discovers how some of the cash has ended up in the hands of extremists and how an organisation we are funding has been involved in executions and torture.
The Operation that Ruined My Life
Women across the UK are suffering after an operation they were told would transform their lives. Instead, some of them say their lives have been ruined. For years women have been fitted with mesh-like devicesto treat prolapse or incontinence - often caused by childbirth. Although it's been a successful treatment for many of them, thousands of women in the US, the UK and Australia are now suing, after finding themselves in agony or suffering other serious complications. Reporter Lucy Adams meets women living with constant pain. She investigates how and why these devices were approved for use in the first place and asks whether manufacturers and regulators should have acted sooner to take some of them off the market.
Myanmar: The Hidden Truth
In August 2017, 11-year-old Monzur Ali saw things no child should ever see. Military helicopters landed on the football pitch in his village in Northern Rakhine in Myanmar. 'We didn't really want to leave my village but there was a lot of shooting. Some people were hanged from trees and shot. The dead bodies were left hanging', Monzur told Panorama. He and his family fled the country and are now living across the border in a giant refugee camp in Bangladesh. Like Monzur, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar in 2017 to escape being killed, raped and abused by security forces and local Buddhists. It has been described by the UN as a textbook example of ethnic cleansing, but could it amount to genocide? Using powerful eyewitness testimony, government documents and previously unseen footage, reporter Justin Rowlatt reveals how the Rohingya population has been isolated and weakened, and shows that attacks were part of a highly-planned and organised operation.