Though it was determined that Abyan was an official refugee – having been forced to leave her country in order to escape persecution – under Australian law she was refused entry to the country. Instead she was moved from the detention centre on Nauru to the “community” space just outside of it, alone, isolated and scared. It was here that, on July 2015, Abyan says was raped and became pregnant.
According to a recent spate of leaked reports from detention staff on Nauru, Abyan was not alone in suffering abuse there. The files, kept on a database by caseworkers on the island, were released and published in the Guardian earlier this month, and detailed widespread abuse and threats against female refugees on the island, many of whom were children.
One instance of misconduct detailed a guard requesting sexual favours in return for allowing a girl to have a longer shower; another involved a young woman being told she was on ‘a list’ compiled by local Nauruan guards of women they were ‘waiting for’; and report noted that bus drivers had taken voyeuristic photos of the women in the camp.
The leak has lead to a public outcry, including protests held outside parliament buildings in Australia earlier this month. The Refugee Council of Australia called the reports “sickening”, while Save the Children staff quoted in the Guardian warned that the files were just the “tip of the iceberg” of the extent of abuse inflicted on refugees on Nauru.
Nauru is the world’s smallest island state, a barren country the same size as Melbourne airport. Home to just 10,000 people, intensive phosphate mining and widespread environmental damage on the island means that 75% of it is uninhabitable and the population is heavily reliant on imports due to the lack of natural resources. Despite the poverty and terrible living conditions, it was chosen as a site for one of Australia’s controversial offshore detention facilities, and in 2001, the centre was opened.
For Abyan, being raped was just the beginning of her ordeal. Abortion is illegal on Nauru and despite her continual pleas, Abyan was forced to wait until the authorities arranged for her to fly to Australia. By this point she had become deeply distressed and her physical health had deteriorated rapidly. On arrival in Australia she asked for some more time to ready herself for the abortion and for an explanation of how exactly it would be carried out. Instead she was secretly flown back to Nauru with Australia’s Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, publicly proclaiming that she had decided not to proceed with the abortion.
