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Escapee on run in Bayswater

Asylum seeker on run in Bayswater

Police are continuing to search for an Indian immigration detainee who fled from Serco guards while visiting a Sikh temple in Bayswater.

The man was taking part in an organised visit to the Sikh Gurdwara temple on Murray Street yesterday when he made his bid for freedom just before 4pm.

The man was last seen wearing light brown cargo pants, a grey and blue striped hooded shirt, white sneakers and an orange turban.

A spokesman for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the detainee from the Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre near Northam escaped while on an excursion.

“A search for the missing detainee is continuing,” the spokesman said last night.

“The individual is a visa overstayer.

"The Department of Immigration and Border Protection and its detention service provider, Serco, are conducting an investigation into the circumstances of the incident.”

Priest Anup Singh said the man was one of three detainees who were to visit the temple that day to pray.

Mr Singh said the man ran away from the guards on to the temple’s driveway and out on to the street. He said it was not the first time immigration detainees had been brought to the temple.

The escape is the sixth from immigration detention in WA since August last year.

In June, a Vietnamese man escaped Serco custody at Perth Airport, just hours before he was supposed to be deported.

In January, a Vietnamese detainee was recaptured more than two hours after he escaped custody in Perth’s city centre.

Four detainees broke out of the Serco-run Yongah Hill Immigration Detention Centre by climbing three fences earlier that month – the fourth escape from that centre since last August.

Anyone with any information should call the Department of Immigration and Border Protection on 1800 009 633.