A Young Woman Remains In Critical Condition After Setting Herself Alight On Nauru

Image: Getty

A young Somali woman is fighting for her life in a Brisbane Hospital after setting herself alight on Nauru on Monday.

The refugee, who activists have identified as a Somali woman named Hodan, remains in critical condition. It is thought that she is 21 or even younger.

She is the second refugee to set themselves on fire in recent weeks. On Monday, a 23-year-old Iranian man, known as Omid, died after setting himself on fire and suffering from burns to 75 per cent of his body.

Refugee activists say the self-immolations are acts of desperation from refugees who have given up hope. They are calling on the government to loosen its policy on asylum seekers.

Currently, the government does not allow asylum seekers to come to Australia to be processed if they arrive by boat or are intercepted at sea. Instead they must be processed offshore and settled on Nauru or Manus Island.

Sally Thompson of Refugee Rights Action Network WA says that Hodan had been living on Nauru (having been assessed to be a refugee). Several months ago she was involved in a serious motorbike accident and transferred to Australia for medical treatment. She was desperate to stay in Australia, but was returned to Nauru earlier this week and it was this move that precipitated her decision to self-immolate.

Nauru is not safe for young female refugees, says Thompson. “They’re petrified. They stand out, they have no one to protect them.” She says she knows of one woman who refuses to leave her tent in the detention centre – even though it is open during the day and asylum seekers are free to come and go – because she is so scared to be out in the Nauruan community.

She points to the fact that several women have been raped on Nauru, including one woman who was raped while in the midst of an epileptic fit. That woman is currently in a legal limbo, waiting to find out whether she can travel to Australia for an abortion.

Immigration minister Peter Dutton has said “it is of grave concern that this person would resort to such an extreme act of self-harm”. However, he says the government has no intention of reversing its policy and therefore “allow people to drown at sea again”.