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Safe From Harm

To mark World Refugee Day, members of the Karen Community, representatives from the UNHCR and Minister Alan Shatter gathered in the Lighthouse Cinema to watch Moving To Mars, a documentary on the plight of refugees.

Roe McDermott, 23 Aug 2012

On the evening of June 20, the residents and visitors of Smithfield Square were treated to a wonderful and uplifting sight. A choir of beaming children, teens and adults gathered outside the Lighthouse Cinema to sing.

These were not your average buskers. Organised by the United Nations’ refugee agency UNHCR to celebrate World Refugee Day, the choir comprised members of the Karen Community who have escaped the violence of Burma and been resettled in Castlebar, Co. Mayo. The Karen people – along with members of the UNHCR and the Minister for Justice, Equality & Defence, Alan Shatter TD – subsequently attended a screening of Moving To Mars, Mat Whitecross’ documentary about resettled refugees, some of whom were in attendance.

Moving To Mars is warm, insightful and enlightening. Featuring two Karen families who were moved from a primitive Mae La camp in Thailand to Sheffield in the UK, the documentary focuses on the attempts by the group – many of whom have been separated from family and friends – to acclimatise.

In most respects, their knowledge of England and the hopes they have nurtured for their new lives are endearingly naïve. They speak of wishing to see the Queen and David Beckham – though they also express an uncanny understanding of the local mindset. “It’s cold, so you have to drink alcohol all the time,” one of them observes. Barely able to conceal their wonder at taking a ride on the airport escalator, it’s clear that their journey to England will be an exciting one – though it also proves emotionally difficult. As the adults battle to fight feelings of despondency and the children struggle to learn English, it’s easy to forget about the larger problems they once faced.

But subtle, off-hand references to their former life are bone-chilling. When Thaw Htoo, the intelligent and articulate patriarch of one of the resettled families, expresses a desire to reignite his career as a civil engineer, he’s asked if he brought his diploma to the UK. “No,” he replies, “the Burmese army burned down all our houses. So we had to leave everything.”



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