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
International Detention Coalition migrants. The Coalition reaches these objectives through networking, advocacy, raising public awareness and researching and reporting on issues worldwide relating to the detention of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. For the period 2008-2010, IDC members identified three core priorities: In light of these priorities, the Coalition has focused its work on three core strategic areas: Since the late 1990s organisations working in the field of immigration detention have discussed the need for better regional and international networking. In September 2003, several NGO representatives attending the UNHCR NGO Consultations in Geneva met to explore the formation of an international civil society