Different destinations for families who made a journey of hope

It is these lives, along with their hopes and fears, that film-maker Mat Whitecross focuses on in his TV documentary Moving to Mars. He follows two Burmese families as they leave behind friends and relatives in a Thai refugee camp and embark on a journey to start a new life in Sheffield.

The two families are from Burma's Karen tribe, an ethnic group making up about seven per cent of the country's population, that have been persecuted by the ruling military junta. It's estimated that more than 150,000 Burmese people live in refugee camps on the Thai border. Mae La is one such camp and although it's officially a "temporary" shelter area it is home to more than 40,000 refugees, including the families of Thaw Htoo and Jo Kae.

Both families lived in the makeshift camp for more than a decade, after being forced to flee their homes and Whitecross believes their stories deserve to be told. "We heard about this camp and that refugees were coming over to England. My own parents were political refugees from Argentina back in the Seventies and something just clicked. I felt this was one of the most extreme versions of the refugee story."

He says conditions in the camp were basic. "There was no electricity, or running water, it's like a prison and once you're in you aren't allowed out and you're not allowed to work." Despite such privations, the camp is a close-knit community where its inhabitants support one another.

Whitecross, who co-directed The Road to Guantanamo, followed the two families as they prepared to leave the camp as part of a UN relocation scheme which provides refugee families with the chance of a new life in countries like the US, Australia, Norway and the UK. Htoo and Kae's young families are among 152 Karen refugees who move to Sheffield and the cameras record their attempts to adjust to this bewildering new world.

"We followed two families because they were both fascinating and what I found interesting was how they adapted," says Whitecross. "One family is middle class, speaks English, knew about our history and how the Karen people had helped the British against the Japanese during World War Two, and they perhaps thought they would get the red carpet treatment.

"The second family is working class, the parents couldn't read or write and we feared they might struggle, but our expectations were flipped. The second family have thrived, the children are doing brilliantly at school and they even have Yorkshire accents now. Whereas the other family, the one we thought would adapt better, have found things tough, particularly the adults."

The initial euphoria they feel on arriving in their new home is slowly replaced by frustration at not being able to find work. "Even doing volunteer work makes a difference because these people want to be valued and are desperate to get involved," says Whitecross. "In the Thai camp, they had relatively happy lives because they were surrounded by people they knew, their needs are basic ones and they help one another. But once they're over in England their concerns become more mundane, the same as ours, like complaining about the weather, or the fact your next door neighbour has carpet and you don't."

He believes the film shows Sheffield in a positive light. "In setting itself up as a city of sanctuary, Sheffield is continuing the long and proud tradition, going back centuries, of welcoming political exiles and refugees." He says that being so closely involved in the fortunes of both families opened his eyes to the struggles that refugees have to face. "The main lesson for me was realising that the journey refugees embark on is a courageous one, whether it's to escape persecution or for economic reasons. These are basic human needs and we shouldn't disparage, them."

But Whitecross admits to having mixed emotions about the life-changing journeys he has chronicled. "It feels bittersweet. The sadness comes from the parents making such a big sacrifice. They knew once they left they could never go back, that they would never speak to their friends again, but they did it for their kids so that they might have a chance of a better future."

n True Stories: Moving to Mars, More4, tonight at 10pm.