A Somali refugee who says she was raped and impregnated on Nauru has denied the government’s claim that she changed her mind about wanting an abortion.
The Age reports on the latest development in the confusing case that has human rights activists up in arms.
The woman, known as Abyan, is 14 weeks pregnant after being raped while in detention on Nauru. She was flown to Australia last week to have the abortion but suddenly returned to Nauru on a chartered jet on Friday.
An injunction by her lawyer, George Newhouse, to prevent her deportation failed because Abyan was already out of the country.
The Minister for Immigration Peter Dutton, says Abyan had “decided not to proceed with the termination” and lawyers and advocates making claims to the contrary should be “ashamed of their lies”.
But The Age has a letter from Abyan, in which she says: “I have been very sick. I have never said thate [sic] I did not want a termination …I never saw a doctor. I saw a nurse at a clinic but there was no counselling. I [also] saw a nurse at Villawood but there was no interpreter. I asked but was not allowed to talk with my lawyer.”
Abyan is 23 years old and has been found to be a genuine refugee.
