Experiences of refugees and the difficulties they are faced with were shared at an event in Carlisle.

The city's group of Amnesty International hosted Learning About Refugees to offer local people the chance to find about more about the plight of people fleeing their war-torn home countries for a better life.

It comes after the Cumbria Leadership Board - which includes the leaders of all local authorities - announced that a 'Cumbria Offer' will be drawn up over the coming months to pass on to the Government.

It will include the number of refugees that can be resettled in the county between 2017 and 2020.

Today the camp widely-known as The Jungle in Calais, which has seen as many as 10,000 people live there, is due to be bulldozed.

The event, which took place in the Calva Lecture Theatre and the University of Cumbria's Fusehill Street Campus, featured a talk from Mukhtar Ghebirebbi, who sought refuge in the UK, and a joint session delivered by Adrienne Gill of Carlisle One World Centre and James Cartwright of Carlisle Refugee Action Group.

Mr Ghebirebbi, of the Blackburn with Darwen Amnesty Group, spoke of how it took over eight years before his application for asylum was approved, during which time he was extremely grateful for the support of the Amnesty group.

The former headteacher from Eritrea explained how asylum seekers are often nervous of dealing with uniformed officers if they have been abused by people in uniform in their home country and that they frequently have difficulties in understanding Home Office letters and bureaucracy and in getting legal aid.

Speaking after the event he said: “People in Cumbria have nothing to fear from refugees. However it is important that the right community structures are put in place to help them settle down successfully."

Chair of the Amnesty Carlisle Group, Hazel Royle, said: “Since 2014 the UK has resettled less than 2,000 Syrian refugees - a pitifully small proportion compared to the 4.8 million Syrians in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Meanwhile Calais Camp contains 1,179 minors including 387 refugee children who have been identified as eligible for protection in the UK, but not one child has been transferred to the UK this year.

“The UK also has severe restrictions on what work an asylum-seeker may be permitted to do and detention is used much more extensively in the UK’s asylum system than in other EU countries.”