AN African asylum seeker forced to flee persecution in her own country says she has received a warm welcome in Darlington.

The 27-year-old mother-of-two, who came to the town from Burundi, in Central Africa, a year ago, said her life had been made bearable by the help of Amnesty International Darlington and Darlington Borough Council.

The woman - who asked not to be named - ran a food-transporting business with her husband, but the couple were accused of arms dealing.

Burundi is made up of two tribes, Hutus and Tutsis, and the woman believes her Hutu family was targeted by the majority Tutsi tribe because of their race.

Last year, she received a message telling her not to return, and that her husband had been arrested.

"At first we thought it was a way of getting money from us," the woman said. "We had to bribe the officials to get our food through, but then my husband was attacked," she said

She fled the country while pregnant, leaving her mother and four-year-old daughter.

The woman does not know whether her daughter is still alive.

"I hope she is still with my mother, but I have no way of knowing," she said.

The woman, who has since given birth to another daughter, is studying mental health at Darlington College of Technology.

Her application for asylum has been rejected twice. Her appeal will be heard in December.

"I cannot complain. Things are hard, but we have been welcomed by the people here," she said. I want to stay here in England but only as long as my country is unsafe."

Jackie Saint, of Amnesty International Darlington, said asylum seekers did not want to live off the community.

"They want to give something back to the community that has taken them in."