A refugee has set herself on fire at an Australian-run detention centre on the Pacific island of Nauru, just days after an Iranian man died in a similar act in protest against his treatment.
Australian officials said a Somali woman was in a critical condition after she set herself alight on Monday.
The incident sparked debate on social media with the hashtag #Only19, the purported age of the Somali woman, trending in Australia, with users uploading and tweeting photos of when they were 19.
The consensus among medical experts is that conditions of detention and offshore processing do immense damage to physical and mental health
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Immigration Minister Peter Dutton acknowledged there had been a rise in cases of self-harm in the camps and accused refugee advocates of giving the asylum seekers false hope that they would one day be settled in Australia.
Some advocates were "encouraging some of these people to behave in a certain way", he said on Tuesday.
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.
"The consensus among medical experts is that conditions of detention and offshore processing do immense damage to physical and mental health," it said.
Last week, a 23-year-old Iranian man known as Omid set fire to himself on Nauru during a visit by UN representatives, an act the Nauru government said was a "political protest".
Under Australia's immigration policy, asylum seekers attempting to reach the country by boat are intercepted and sent to camps on the Nauru, about 3,000km northeast of Australia, or on Manus island in Papua New Guinea.
The harsh conditions and reports of systemic child abuse at the camps have drawn wide criticism inside and outside Australia and have become a major headache for Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during campaigning for July national elections.
The government argues that the approach, which also includes turning back boats, has prevented drownings by stopping people from making the dangerous journey, often from Indonesia.
Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court last week found its centre on Manus Island, which has some 850 detainees, to be unconstitutional, prompting the government in Port Moresby to order it closed.
_________________________________________________________________________________It is clear that the bias of the author is toward the refugees who seek asylum in Australia. But lets just be completely raw with this situation. Many people may call these "matyrs" as disgraceful, and ungrateful. I'd like to bring to light that these refugees didn't want to be forcefully moved, as their home that there people lived for generations was destroyed. They didn't ask for the attention, and for the whole world to put a spotlight on them. They most definitely didn't ask for all the complaints and whines of those who don't understand. All they asked for, is for the world to give a little compassion and to give them a place to help them to get on their feet. Yet, we as privileged, blessed, and have plenty can't even give enough to provide accommodations for those who have nothing? We must resort for death in order to grab our attention? Not only is this a poor statement of Australia, but we as a human race.
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Aljazeera. "Refugee Sets Herself on Fire at Australia's Nauru Camp." - AJE News. N.p., 3 May 2016. Web. 03 May 2016. <http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/05/australia-nauru-refugees-160503045248178.html>.
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