The Nauru Regional Processing Centre is one of many offshore Australian immigration detention facilities, located on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru. The centre is operated by Broadspectrum (formerly Transfield Services) on behalf of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection a department of the Government of Australia that is responsible for immigration, citizenship and border control. The use of immigration detention facilities is part of a policy of mandatory detention in Australia. The Nauru facility was opened in 2001 as part of the Howard government's Pacific Solution. The centre was suspended in 2008 to fulfil an election promise by the Rudd government, but was reopened in August 2012 by the Gillard government after a large increase in the number of maritime arriva