Escaped asylum seekers hunted

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Police have now caught 12 of the 26 men who fled the Campsfield House Immigration Detention Centre, in Oxfordshire, after detainees started fires and broke out.

Superintendent Robin Rickard, commanding the police response, said: "Having located 12 of the escaped detainees, we are working with the Borders and Immigration Agency and GEO, who run the centre on their behalf, to establish the identities of those who are still missing and get them back into custody as soon as possible.

"We have a substantial number of resources dedicated to the task and are doing all we can to locate the detainees as quickly as possible. I urge members of the public to contact us immediately should they see anyone they believe could be one of those involved."

Campsfield was converted into an immigration detention centre in 1993. It holds up to 200 male asylum seekers at a time.

In March, staff and detainees had to be evacuated from the centre when a number of fires were lit during a disturbance.

Liberal Democrat MP Dr Evan Harris, whose constituency includes Campsfield House, called for action at the centre after a week of tension including a hunger strike by detainees.

He said: "This is the latest in a series of disturbances at Campsfield House and the second major incident that has occurred since the mixing of foreign national ex-prisoners with immigration detainees and since a change of management to another private company following a bid process."

Imam Sajid, former chairman of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and a government adviser on immigration, urged the escapees to turn themselves over to the police.

"It is hard to be sympathetic towards anyone who breaks the law but these men must be desperate to have done this," he said."They should hand themselves in to police and then seek legal advice. The problem we have is these people feel they are treated like criminals when their crimes are simply fleeing their own country for whatever reason."