The Greens have proposed the government’s Nauru investigator Philip Moss as a potential “independent advocate” to assist the Somalian refugee known as Abyan.
Abyan, not her real name, is pregnant as the result of an alleged rape on Nauru, and has been asking for a termination since 1 September.
She was flown to Australia last week, but after five days was secretly returned on a private charter flight without having had the operation.
“Abyan needs help and she needs it now,” the Greens’ immigration spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said on Wednesday.
“Abyan’s Kafkaesque nightmare has been allowed to carry on for far too long. The extraordinary situation facing this young woman and the need for immediate action means the government must act now to get her the care she needs.”
Hanson-Young suggested Moss, the former integrity commissioner, who was hired by the Abbott government to lead a review of allegations of sexual assault and staff misconduct on Nauru, could act as an independent advocate for Abyan’s interests.
Moss has a comprehensive knowledge of Nauru, and this year produced an 86-page report that detailed extensive abuse of those in detention there, including allegations of sexual abuse of women and children, physical assaults on asylum seekers and widespread fear of riots and violence.
Abyan’s treatment while in Australia has been the subject of widespread controversy.
The government says she was returned by charter flight because she changed her mind and declined the operation.
But Abyan herself, in a written statement, confirmed she still wanted the termination, and only wanted more time to decide and counselling about the procedure.
In an interview on the island with the Australian newspaper she re-affirmed her desire for a termination.
Refugee advocates, Abyan’s lawyers, and politicians from all sides have said Abyan’s distress over her situation is being compounded by the uncertainty over what will happen next. She is understood to be about 14 weeks pregnant.
“Abyan needs help and she needs it now,” the Greens’ immigration spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said Wednesday.
“Abyan’s Kafkaesque nightmare has been allowed to carry on for far too long. The extraordinary situation facing this young woman and the need for immediate action means the government must act now to get her the care she needs.”
Gillian Triggs, the Australian Human Rights Commissioner, told ABC TV earlier this week an independent oversight mechanism was needed for detention centres, to protect the rights of asylum seekers and refugees and to avoid similar controversies to this week’s, where contested versions of events are furiously debated in public.
“We clearly need some form of independent monitoring system so that we can have objective, fair processes to understand exactly what’s going on here and to give all parties a fair opportunity to get the facts straight,” Triggs said.
However, immigration minister Peter Dutton said no additional oversight was necessary.
“The opportunity is there for people to travel,” he told reporters. “We have a number of visits, including from Red Cross, UNHCR and others to the detention centres and that regime, that level of oversight, the way in which the oversight regime operates at the moment, the way in which we are providing support with taxpayers’ money to people who do need medical assistance, that is the system that will be continuing into the future.”
Abyan, who is now 23, fled Somalia after her family was killed by a rocket attack in 2007 during the war between the Somali government and the Islamist terror group al-Shabaab.
She arrived in Australia, landing by boat on Christmas Island, in October 2013. She was transferred to Nauru two days later.
In November 2014, Nauruan authorities determined she was a refugee: that is, she has a well-founded fear of persecution in her home country and cannot be returned there. She had been living in the community on Nauru.
She was allegedly raped in mid-July.
Abyan has said previously she did not want to file a police report over her assault because she feared retribution from her assailant or others.
She was visited by three Nauran police officers.
“Police visited a Somali woman in response to public claims and offered to take a statement. She declined,” Nauru police said in a statement.
“Without a complaint, co-operation or evidence, police cannot act. Case registered and closed unless a complaint or evidence is received.”
Police also insisted that their arrival and the arrival of the Australian’s columnist Chris Kenny was coincidental.
“Nauru police wish to clarify – no media accompanied police yesterday as they visited women to offer assistance. Media arrived independently,” the police force said in a statement.
Kenny is reportedly the first foreign journalist in 18 months to be granted a media visa to visit Nauru. Other journalists have been refused permission to travel to the island. Human Rights Commissioner Triggs also said this week, “I cannot get a visa”.
Kenny was chief of staff to Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull when he was in opposition.
“If my public support for strong border protection measures helped sway Nauru’s decision, so be it,” he said when asked about his visa approval.
