Detainee on the run in Sydney

File photo / Getty Images

An immigration detainee remains on the run after escaping from the most secure section of Sydney's Villawood detention centre.

Police say they are checking with the man's local contacts and working with immigration officials to determine his whereabouts.

The 33-year-old was reporting missing to police after he failed to turn up during a roll call at the centre about 9pm last night.

Police continue to search the surrounding area and have issued a description of the detainee, who refugee advocates believe is Belgian.

He is of Caucasian appearance, 195cm tall, with a thin to athletic build, a shaved head and a tattoo of a Chinese symbol on the left side of his neck.

He was last seen wearing a black hooded jumper, dark-coloured three-quarter length pants and dark-coloured shoes.

Refugee advocates say the man managed to escape from the centre following a fight inside Stage 1, the most secure section of the centre.

Jamal Daoud of the Social Justice Network said the man escaped from a broken window after a fight broke out between about 15 New Zealand, African and Belgian detainees.

An immigration department spokesman said the reports of a fight were being investigated.

Anyone with information on the man's whereabouts is being urged to contact Australia's Crime Stoppers.

- AAP