The woman, identified by a refugee advocacy group as Hadon, is now being treated at the Republic of Nauru hospital. The Refuge Action Coalition understands that an air ambulance has already been called to medivac Hadon to Australia.
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The government of Nauru said it was “distressed that refugees are attempting such awful acts in order to attempt to influence the Australian Government’s immigration policies”.
Refugees at Nauru wear t-shirts with Omid’s name as a show of solidarity.
A 23-year-old man died in the same Royal Brisbane Hospital on Friday after setting himself alight two days earlier in an apparent protest over Australia’s strict asylum seeker policies.
The Nauruan government confirmed the 21-year-old female refugee had critical injuries after setting herself alight on Monday and was being treated at Nauru hospital. She was reportedly returned to Nauru just last week, after receiving medical treatment in Brisbane for injuries sustained from a motorcycle accident.
When Omid Masoumali set himself alight last week, he announced his intentions to onlookers in a video received by Fairfax.
A candlelight vigil was held in Mr Masoumali’s memory in Sydney following his death, with signs displayed saying “Killed by detention on Nauru”.
The Nauruan government claims that refugees and asylum seekers in the detention centers “enjoy the same freedoms” as local Nauruan citizens and actually “have better facilities” in some cases.
“There are approximately 2,000 very vulnerable refugees and asylum-seekers on Manus Island and Nauru. UNHCR’s principal concern today is that these refugees and asylum-seekers are immediately moved to humane conditions with adequate support and services to prevent further unnecessary suffering”.
“These actions are purely and simply being taken because they believe that political protests will influence the Australian government”.
The island of Nauru where refugees are being forced to live.
On Monday, the ABC reported that his wife had told an official from Doctors for Refugees that he had suffered without morphine for 10 hours and waited 24 hours for a medical airlift to Australia’s mainland.
The Australian immigration minister denied there had been any delay in Omid’s transfer to hospital. She is expected to be evacuated from the island.
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This follows a tumultuous week for Australia’s offshore processing regime, after Papua New Guinea’s supreme court ruled the Manus Island detention centre unconstitutional and requested it be closed. Scores of people have died making the journey.
