The 12-month-old girl was brought to the hospital last month after suffering burns when boiling water was accidentally spilled on her while in detention on Nauru.
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“So for doctors and nurses we just can’t send children from hospital into a place where we know they’re going to be harmed”, he said.
But he has said the government must remain resolute over its policies regarding offshore processing and regional resettlement for “illegal maritime arrivals” in order to deter people-smuggling.
More than 1,400 people are being held in immigration detention on the islands while they wait for their asylum claims to be processed.
In September, a senate committee report said conditions there were “not adequate, appropriate or safe” and that allegations of rape and abuse should be investigated.
It says conditions have improved since Asha arrived, with inmates now allowed to move around the island.
Australia’s government has directed senior officials on how to respond to questions about political turmoil and alleged corruption in Nauru, where it has an asylum seeker detention center, documents obtained by Reuters under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request show.
The Guardian reported on Friday night that Asha – the Australian-born daughter of two asylum-seeker parents, who had first been taken to Nauru when five months old, faced a return there again, after receiving treatment for burns at the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital.
“I strongly support the decisions of clinicians in our public hospitals, I strongly support decisions they make about the welfare of patients, they are best placed to do that”, he said.
A spokeswoman for Mr Dutton said he would not comment on the matter.
Their cases have sparked national protests under the banner #LetThemStay.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said the asylum seekers will be treated “with compassion” and deportation will be decided “on a case by case basis”.
The number of asylum seekers trying to reach Australia is small compared to the influx seen in Europe.
To stop the influx, the government adopted tough measures intended as a deterrent.
Ms Narayanasamy said the Australian Border Force has “overruled decisions of medical experts in the past, so the family remains very scared they will be secretly snatched from the hospital and returned to detention this weekend”. Once there, they are processed and ultimately settled.
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The government has also adopted a policy of tow-backs, or turning boats around.
