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 in Hong Kong Refugees in Hong Kong Refugees in Hong Kong have formed historic waves arriving in the city due to wars in the region. More recently those seeking asylum or protection based on torture claims are a fast growing part of the city's population, soaring since 2004 due to changes in the legal system for considering asylum and torture claims mandated by local courts. As of September 2017, there are about 14,000 pending or failed asylum seekers or torture claimants, mostly from South Asia, awaiting processing, adjudication, appeals, or deportation after failure to gain refugee status. Almost none of the asylum seekers