Three asylum-seekers on run after fleeing Darwin church service

THREE asylum-seekers are on the run in Darwin after slipping away from a weekend church service.

THREE asylum-seekers are on the run in Darwin after slipping away from a weekend church service.

The Vietnamese men were part of a group of 50 Christians who were allowed to attend the Catholic church service on Sunday, escorted by security guards.

But part way through the service it is believed the men left the church and have not been seen since.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) said local and federal police had been called in to try and locate the men.

"When the service finished the detention services provider staff identified that the three detainees were missing," the spokeswoman said.

"The department views any escape from our immigration detention facilities very seriously," she said.

DIAC has called for an investigation and report that will include details of the guarding and security arrangements in place at the time of the escape.

The men were boat people arrested at Christmas Island and were not thought to pose any threat to the community, the spokeswoman said.

Father Paul Webb, who was in the church when the men took off, said groups of detainees had been attending a mass each Sunday for months.

"I saw the Serco officers rushing around," he told ABC radio.

Father Webb said many asylum seekers had been on Christmas Island for a year or more and then been in detention in Darwin for another nine months without being interviewed by immigration.

"I think that you have to put at the immigration department's door the fact that they have kept them there so long," Father Webb told ABC radio.

"It is this not knowing that I think leads to frustration, which is why in desperation they jump on roofs and do all sorts of things," he said.