Woomera escapees still on the run

Mounted police guard the compound perimeter at Woomera Detention Center

WOOMERA, Australia -- Fourteen asylum seekers are still on the run after fleeing from a South Australian detention center during a dramatic weekend of violent protests.

As the escapees face harsh outback conditions, unrest continues at the Woomera camp with an 800-strong group of activists matched by a security presence which includes riot and mounted police.

Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said those convicted of escaping would face up to five years in prison before being deported.

Police are concerned the escapees could be at risk of dehydration if they attempt to make their way across the desert-like outback.

"There are concerns for people's welfare in remote areas," South Australian police commander Wayne Bristow told reporters, adding that aircraft were being used to search the vast red landscape around Woomera.

Hard line

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Australian Prime Minister John Howard reiterated his hard line policy on mandatory detention, saying he would not be "intimidated".

"I want to make it very plain that no amount of demonstration, no series of breaches of the law is going to in any way alter the government's policy in relation to illegal immigration."

"If anything it will strengthen the resolve of the Australian people to support even more the government's policy," he said.

Demonstrators began gathering at Woomera on Thursday as part of an Easter weekend rally against Australia's mandatory detention of asylum seekers, erecting about 200 tents and dozens of colorful banners outside the center's gates.

At least 16 protesters have been arrested for harboring escapees within the tent city.

Maksimovic said the protest would likely begin breaking up on Monday, but a small group would stay at Woomera to visit detainees during the week.

Awaiting deportation

Police and protesters clash over a weekend of protests against Australia's mandatory detention policy

Fifty asylum seekers escaped on Friday night after about 1,000 protesters stormed the center and passed bolt cutters and other tools to detainees to help them cut through razor-wire fences.

Most have been recaptured since the escape from Woomera, an abandoned military facility in the South Australia outback. An immigration department spokesman said it was unclear how many of the 14 escapees who remain unaccounted for were women and children.

Woomera holds 348 asylum seekers who arrived illegally in Australia, mostly by boat from Indonesia. The vast majority are Middle Eastern and Afghans who have spent months, and in some cases years, in detention. Many were awaiting deportation or appealing failed asylum claims.

The policy of mandatory detention has broad public and bipartisan political support in Australia and the conservative government's tough stand against illegal immigration was seen as a key factor in its third-term election victory in November.

Australia accepts more than 10,000 U.N.-approved refugees for resettlement each year but since 1994 has detained illegal immigrants in camps while their asylum claims are processed in an effort to discourage people-smugglers from bringing migrants to the island continent of 19 million people.