She is currently being treated at the Republic of Nauru Hospital, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection reported, according to Sky News Australia.
The girl, named by refugee advocates as Hodan Yasin, is currently in a critical condition, according to Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.
‘We can only hope for the best possible outcome … It is of grave concern that this person would resort to such an extreme act of self-harm,” Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said.
He expressed anger at advocates and others “who are encouraging some of these people to behave in a certain way, believing that pressure exerted on the Australian Government will see a change in our policy in relation to our border protection measures”.
However, the top UN body for refugees said such incidents in the camps, which hold asylum seekers fleeing violence and hardship in the Middle East, Afghanistan and South Asia, were a result of Australia’s tough offshore detention polices.
“These people have already been through a great deal. Many have fled war and persecution, some have already suffered trauma,” the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Australia said in a statement.
Asylum seekers who arrive on Australian shores by boat are told they will never settle in the country, and are transferred to remote processing centers on the pacific islands on Nauru and Papua New Guinea.
Hundreds of people, including children, have lived for months or even years in these detention centers.
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