MORE than a dozen asylum seekers are on the run after being reported missing in Oxford – and police need you to help find them.

Thames Valley Police today launched their biggest appeal for information to trace people missing from the city.

Almost all the 23 names and pictures released are asylum seekers, with just a handful residents of Oxford. All the missing people are classified as low risk and are not a danger to themselves or the public.

Fourteen are asylum seekers, while three are foreign language students, including one 17-year-old living in student accommodation at Oxford Brookes University who was last seen on a trip to Blenheim Palace in July 2008.

Last night, Det Insp Paul Miller, of St Aldates police station, said some had been missing for two years, and needed to be found so that officers could close their files.

It was difficult to assess why so many asylum seekers were on the ‘missing’ list, he said.

“When someone is potentially an asylum seeker and they get put in social services’ care and they report them missing we are under a duty to investigate.

“What happens with some people is they come into the country illegally and then they can be taken into criminal gangs and kept against their will and used in unlawful businesses. Whether they’re victims of crime or simply illegal immigrants, we want to trace them.

“Primarily it’s to make sure they’re okay and not being abused in any way.

“Secondly, if they are here illegally they need to be dealt with by immigration services.”

“There’s no specific suggestion of trafficking, but we investigate every possibility.”

Det Insp Miller added: “What generally happens when people go missing is a large-scale search.

“When it becomes clear they have absented themselves the investigation scales right down. All the people on this list are low risk, either to the public or themselves.”

About seven reports of missing people are received by police in Oxfordshire every day. Last year’s total of 2,300 was the highest of any police area in the Thames Valley.

Police said it was not common for long-term missing people to come forward, but the public were more likely to see them and tell police.

Anyone with information about anyone from the list should call the Oxford Missing Persons team on 08458 505505 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

THE ASYLUM SEEKERS Han Thanh Hang, 17, is a lone asylum seeker who went missing from a guesthouse where she was staying in Between Towns Road, Oxford, on Friday, January 8.

Sadequllah Haqyar, 18, is an asylum seeker who went missing from his temporary accommodation in Oxford on Saturday, January 16.

Ha Thi Nguyen, 18, is an asylum seeker who went missing from her guesthouse in Marston on Friday, April 17, 2009. All of her belongings were left behind.

Hussain Fakori, 19, is an asylum seeker who went missing from his guesthouse in Between Towns Road on Wednesday, June 2. He told friends that he was going to stay with another friend for a while and took all his possessions with him.

Miralam Ahmadzai, 18, is an Afghan national who was seeking asylum in the UK. He was last seen on Sunday, August 8, at the guesthouse he was staying at in Oxford.

Maweed Dawowdi, 18, was living in Hendred Street, Oxford, and was reported missing after he failed to attend an immigration hearing in London on Friday, October 1.

Naveet Singh, 17, is an asylum seeker who was reported missing from his address in James Street, Oxford, on Friday, November 20, 2009.

Shaat Sultankhail, 18, is an asylum seeker who went missing from his guesthouse in Between Towns Road on Tuesday, December 22, 2009.

Van Quoc Ngo, 17, is an asylum seeker who was reported missing from his guesthouse in Marston Sunday, February 22, 2009.

Hang Thi Nguyen, 16, is an asylum seeker who was reported missing by the foster family she was placed with in Blackbird Leys on Friday, May 28.

Kashif Shafy, 19, was reported missing after he failed to attend an immigration hearing in London on Friday, May 21. He was seen last that morning at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College in Oxpens Road, where he was enrolled as a student.

Nooralam Ahmedzai, 17, is an asylum seeker who went missing from the guesthouse in Between Towns Road, Cowley, where he was staying on Monday, August 3, 2009.

Noorrahuman Maroofthail, 18, is an asylum seeker who went missing from his guesthouse in Between Towns Road, on Tuesday, July 13.

Yasim Mustafa Musa, 20, was last seen by his asylum case worker on October 29, 2008.

MISSING PERSONS SIX people on the ‘missing’ list are Oxford city residents, including patients from mental health hospitals and homeless people.

Police have released their images as they have concerns for their welfare, or their disappearance is considered out of character by their friends and family.

Three others are language school students, who never returned to their accommodation.

Det Insp Miller said: “The important thing to recognise is that people go missing for a variety of reasons and therefore there are different concerns around them.

“Some of the names we are releasing today are those of suspected illegal immigrants; while with others there is a concern for their welfare or their disappearance is considered out of character by their friends and family.

“Thames Valley Police spend a great deal of time trying to locate people reported missing to us. But if people do not wish to be found, for whatever reason, it can be very hard to trace them.”

Michal Pierre, 29, went missing from the Littlemore Hospital on Thursday, September 23.

He is believed to spend time in the Finsbury Park area of London and in Banbury.

Marion Penny, was last seen leaving her home in Barton Lane, Headington, on Wednesday, November 10.

Telephone contact has been made with her, but the 50-year-old refuses to meet with officers to check that she is safe.

Page Halsey, 38, was reported missing from the Warneford Hospital on Friday, November 5.

Anthony Finch, 69, was last seen leaving the Night Shelter in Luther Street on Wednesday, February 24, to go for an interview.

William Jackson, 76, was last seen at Lucy Faithful House on Saturday, September 11.

Michael Smith, 56, of Long Ford Close, Oxford, was last seen by a neighbour on Sunday, May 16.

He has made contact via a letter to family members since his disappearance, but has not been seen since May.

Chengchao Mao, 16, went missing from his host family’s address in New Cross Road, Headington, on July 15, 2008, and Shuangshuang Sui, 17, a language student living in Oxford Brookes University’s Lady Spencer Hall, was last seen when she went to Blenheim Palace on July 24, 2008.

Fengming Xu, 16, left his host family’s house in Woodstock Road on Wednesday, August 4 to attend his language school in the area, but never returned.