ALMOST 300 pilgrims who came to Australia to pray with Pope Benedict XVI are on the run after illegally overstaying their visas.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal that, of the 110,000 people who came to Sydney for World Youth Day last year, 550 did not go home.

Federal immigration authorities have caught and expelled about half of those but 280 pilgrims are still on the run.

The majority of overstayers are from South Pacific countries including Tonga, Fiji and Samoa. The bulk of the remainder came from India, Vietnam and Pakistan.

Federal Department of Immigration and Citizenship spokesman Sandi Logan said the overstayers represented less than 0.3 per cent of the number of people who came to Australia for the world's largest youth event.

"But it is still an issue," Mr Logan said.

Mr Logan said following World Youth Day the Government granted 86 protection visas to pilgrims who could not safely return home, while a further 90 people were waiting to hear if the Federal Government will grant them an extension to their visas.

There were dozens of overstayers after Australia hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2006 and the Olympics in 2000, including Olympic and Paralympic team members.

"Whenever we have these major events we go to great lengths in the lead-up to the event to make sure we manage the risk that there may be overstayers," Mr Logan said.

In the lead up to World Youth Day, the Department of Immigration required pilgrims - particularly from high-risk nations - to supply supporting documentation from their parishes to confirm they were legitimate church-goers.

As a result the department received "a lot of complaints" from supposed pilgrims who were denied visas.

"We know some people are going to flout the law," Mr Logan said.

Of visitors to Australia for the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games and World Youth Day, less than 1 per cent overstayed their visas.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship deals with 26 million people each year.

Originally published as Hundreds of pilgrims on the run