in brief: unaccompanied asylum seeking minor sent to Nauru

The Abbott government has possibly sent its first unaccompanied asylum seeking minor directly to Nauru under its new offshore processing policy.

The girl, believed to be between 15 and 16 years old arrived at the island’s detention centre yesterday the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre reported.

The ethnicity of the girl is yet to be identified but images have been published of the girl arriving by plane to the facility.

Sophie Peer, director of the ChilOut program which works to get children out of detention, told the ABC the girl will not receive adequate resources to cope with Nauru’s harsh conditions, or protection from violence on the island.

‘We know from young men, unaccompanied minors who are sent to Manus, that they made allegations of being raped,’ she said. ‘We don’t know what is going to happen to this girl.’

She will join three other unaccompanied minors on Nauru, with Immigration Minister Scott Morrison confirming on Friday there are two girls and one boy without families living in the detention centre.

Government figures released last month show 106 children seeking asylum were on Nauru.

There has been scrutiny over the educational resources provided to asylum seeking children on Nauru, but a spokesperson for the Department of Immigration told the media tailor-made education was given to children of school age on Nauru.

Despite this, the wait for asylum in the island’s detention centre has reportedly seen eight refugees returning home having lost hope to be resettled in Australia. This information is yet to be confirmed by the Immigration Minister with information to be discussed at a press conference on Friday.