UK: Manhunt after illegal immigrant centre break-out

AFP on Yahoo ^ | 8/5/07 | AFP

[NormsRevenge]

LONDON (AFP) - Authorities were still hunting Monday for 14 illegal immigrants, all convicted criminals, who escaped from a detention centre.

Twenty-six men went on the run from the Campsfield House Immigration Detention Centre in Oxfordshire, southern England, on Saturday after detainees started fires and broke out.

Police officers in riot gear were called in to deal with the blaze, while helicopters and dogs have been used in the hunt for those still at large.

Police have rounded up 12 of those who fled, but 14 remain on the run and the Home Office has warned that they are all convicted criminals, with robbery the most serious offence committed.

A spokeswoman for the interior ministry confirmed they had all served their sentences and were awaiting deportation.

"All of the individuals are foreign national prisoners and we will be working with the police to recapture these individuals concentrating on the most serious first," she said.

Unrest flared at the centre after some detainees called off a hunger strike.

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."

The Home Office, which is looking at tightening up immigration rules, estimates that there are about 430,000 irregular migrants in Britain but accepts the figure could be as high as 570,000.

The efficiency of Britain's immigration system is a regular hot topic in domestic politics.

[at bay]

“We have a substantial number of resources dedicated to the task”

We don’t.