The woman, known as Abyan, was flown to Brisbane last Sunday and then to the Villawood detention centre this week so she could have an abortion in Sydney. “What happened to me in Somalia is what happened to me there [in Nauru]”.
Advertisement
However, despite being told she would be able to speak with in-house counsellors, she did not see any counsellors or doctor, nor did she receive any advice regarding medical arrangements for her planned termination.
A refugee who made a sex assault complaint on Nauru is facing charges of making a false statement after the government of the tiny pacific nation came under fire for releasing the woman’s name and details of her allegations.
It’s believed Abyan had a medical appointment booked on Thursday, however she declined to attend.
In his statement Adeang also attacked Australian media outlets the Guardian and the ABC, after the national broadcaster aired allegations of the rape in September.
It’s believed the department maintained that, because she was no longer seeking the termination, she could be returned to Nauru.
“Our client has not chose to refuse a termination and you have completely misunderstood or misconstrued her position which is as set out in my letter… of 14 October 2015”.
Lawyer George Newhouse, who is acting for Abyan, wrote to the department before Abyan was removed from the country.
“As soon as we understood that she was being removed we put legal things in place to try and get to the Federal Court as soon as we possibly could. All we ask the Commonwealth to do, all we have been asking for is what any woman in this country would expect, and that is to be fit for the operation, to be counselled about the sexual assault and the pregnancy and to understand the operation so that she could give fully informed consent”. However, when they reached court, they were told that the pregnant Somali refugee was already flown out of the country.
Her lawyers are simply appalled by the move and state that the government essentially abducted their client in order to avoid “due process and any scrutiny”. Abyan was unable to get an abortion in Nauru, where refugees seeking asylum in Australia are forced to live while they wait for their request to be processed.
Because of restrictive abortion laws in Nauru and Papua New Guinea, there was nowhere in Australia’s offshore detention network where Abyan could have the termination.
Advertisement
Asylum seekers on Nauru this year. “Medical experts fear she is at serious risk of physical health and harm – and she is at risk of coming to further physical harm on that island”.
