Police have peacefully ended a stand-off with scores of asylum seekers who broke out of an immigration detention center in Australia. The escapees were mostly Afghans, who pleaded to be granted asylum. Northern Territory police say that more than 70 men escaped early today by breaking through two electrified fences. They gathered on the side of a nearby highway, many holding signs pleading for help with their requests for asylum. The police surrounded the men and after a seven-hour stand-off, they surrendered. Refugee advocates say the men are Shia Muslims, a minority group often targeted for violence in Afghanistan because of their beliefs. The break-out follows disturbances at the center in Darwin Saturday and Sunday involving a group of Indonesians accused of smuggling asylum seekers into Australian waters. Australia each year accepts more than 10,000 refugees through international resettlement programs. However, it detains migrants who enter the country illegally until their asylum claims are processed.