She was sent back to Nauru twelve days ago.

The pregnant refugee known as “Abyan” will return to Australia from Nauru to receive medical treatment according to Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.

The 23-year-old Somali woman is believed to be 15 weeks pregnant after allegedly being raped while living in the community on the island.

Mr Dutton has not provided details of her travel arrangements, telling Sky News: “It’s important that we respect her privacy”.

“She should come to Australia, not only to speak to a doctor in terms of the termination but also to seek mental health services,” he added.

Refugee advocates believe she could be on a flight as early as this evening.

The Nauru detention facility. Image via Getty.

Ian Rintoul, of the Refugee Action Collective, welcomed the news but said that Mr Dutton was trying to minimise the political fall out of the move.

“She should never have been sent back to Nauru in the first place,” Mr Rintoul told Mamamia.

“The fact that she is being brought back is an indication that the decision was wrong.”

Abyan was brought to Australia earlier this month and returned to Nauru four days later, apparently without having received appropriate counselling or an abortion.

“It is unconscionable that the Department has delayed and delayed something that should have been acted on in September and has put this woman through absolute hell for no reason whatsoever,” Mr Rintoul said.

Yesterday, the UN called on the Australian government  to provide Abyan with “adequate mental and physical care and to terminate her pregnancy if she desires”.

“Abyan is in a very fragile mental and physical condition and is deeply traumatised by her experiences since the day of the alleged rape,” a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights wrote in a statement.

“She does not feel safe, given that her alleged attacker lives on Nauru, which is a very small island State with a population of around 10,000.”

The spokesperson said that the OHCHR were aware of a growing number of allegations of sexual assault against asylum seekers on Nauru and said they were “very disturbed by this trend”.

You can read the whole statement here.