Woomera, South Australia and Woomera was chosen as a site for such a facility. The establishment of the Woomera Immigration Detention Centre in 1999, through the refurbishment of the original Woomera Village construction camp at 'Woomera West', eventually brought in new permanent staff (as the Nurrungar people were leaving) to settle and maintain the village population at around 1,200. The immigration detention centre, however, proved to be a highly controversial facility and it closed in early 2003 after only about 36 months of operation, at which point the land and buildings were handed back to the Defence Department. Following the closure of the
Refugees and asylum in Russia from Afghanistan constitute the largest number of asylum seekers in Russia. According to Vladimir Rucheikov, head of asylum issues in the Citizenship Department of the Federal Migration Service of Russia, Afghanis make up over 70% of all submitted applications. Additionally, Afghans make up the majority of those that actually gain refugee status (as of 2006, 962 Afghans have been granted temporary asylum status and 240 Afghans have been granted full refugee status). Asylum seekers in Russia also originate from various African and Middle Eastern countries. Given the significant difficulty in obtaining refugee status, many asylum seekers seek non profit legal