A Somali refuguee who was allegedly raped on Nauru and brought to Australia for an abortion has reportedly been flown back to the island as an injuction application is made.
The Guardian reports the Australian government secretly flew the pregnant woman out of Australia to escape the court injunction, chartering a jet to fly her back to Nauru and the detention centre where she was raped.
In an extraordinary effort that appears to be an attempt to escape the reach of Australian courts, the government on Friday swiftly moved the 23-year-old Somalian, who is pregnant as a result of being raped on Nauru, from Villawood detention centre in Sydney.
Steel fences surround Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney (2010). Photo: Getty Images
Since her pregnancy has become known, she had been pleading with Australian authorities for weeks to be brought to Australia to terminate the pregnancy.
Australian media reports the woman was sent back without the abortion having taken place because the government made the decision after concluding the woman had changed her mind.
But the Australian-based Refugee Action Coalition says the woman wanted to discuss her planned abortion and was waiting to meet counsellors and doctors.
Abortion in Nauru is illegal.
The Australian government has not officially commented on the reports.
Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young Photo: AAP
On Twitter, Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said it was hard to fathom a more brutal way of treating a young woman traumatised by rape and now pregnant.
On Thursday, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said in a radio interview that refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru were asking for medical care in Australia in order to try and have their refugee claims processed on the mainland.
He described the behaviour as a racket.
Australian Federal Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton. Photo: AAP