The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has confirmed a 21-year-old Somali female refugee has set herself alight on Nauru.
The incident comes just days after the death of an Iranian refugee in a Brisbane hospital after he set himself alight during a UN visit to the islands immigration facilities
The Immigration Department confirmed the female refugee is treated at the Republic of Nauru Hospital after ‘an incident of self-immolation’.
‘The Department is supporting the Government of Nauru to identify appropriate medical treatment options,’ a spokesperson said.
The Nauru government said the woman was being treated by four emergency doctors from Australia and emergency medical evacuation had been requested.
The Nauran government condemned incidents of self-immolation as ‘dreadful acts’ aimed at influencing Australian immigration policy were distressing.
In a statement, the Nauruan government stressed refugees on Nauru are given the same freedoms as citizens but ‘have better facilities’.
‘Refugees and asylum seekers are not distressed due to their conditions,’ the statement said.
‘Their conditions are better than most other refugee camps across the world.’
The Nauruan government called for refugee advocates to stop giving refugees and asylum seekers false hope and ‘stirring up these protests’.
‘This is very distressing for support workers, health workers and all others who work closely with our refugee community,’ the government said.
Witnesses who have spoke to refugee advocates say the women is badly burned
Advocacy group the Refugee Action Coalition says the woman identified as Hadon, was one of three refugees ‘snatched’ by Border Force officers from the Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation last Wednesday.
‘She was carried bodily out of the detention centre by Border Force officers,’ said the coalition in a statement
The coalition says she was brought to Australia in November after suffering a head injury, and had not fully recovered.
23-year-old Iranian man, Omid Masoumali, died after setting himself on fire at the centre last week.
His wife said when Mr Masoumali arrived at the medical facility of Nauru, no doctors were on duty.
She said he was without doctor’s care for two hours at the medical facility and waited a further eight until pain relief in the form of morphine was delivered.
Mr Masoumali’s wife says it took 24 hours for a medical airlift team to arrive in Nauru, just a six-hour flight from mainland Australia.
Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition said ‘this is another self-harm attempt that is Peter Dutton’s responsibility’.
‘A vulnerable young woman who needed protection was a victim of a spiteful removal. She has been sent to the toxic environment that the Minister has created on Nauru. Tragically this was entirely predictable.
