A five-year-old Iranian girl who has spent more than a year in Australia 's offshore Nauru detention centre has been prescribed anti-depressants , has self-harmed by swallowing shampoo and nails and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder , her lawyer says . She is now living in fear of being returned from a holding centre in Darwin to troubled Nauru for years while her family 's asylum claim is processed , lawyer John Lawrence said . The girl 's father has applied for a protection visa for his family after fearing for his life and fleeing form the military police in Iran . The visa can take up to three years to process according to the Department of Immigration . Mr Lawrence told Daily Mail Australia : 'The prospect of that little girl remaining in any type of detention is horrific ; she might not still be alive . ' A five-year-old Iranian girl is living in fear of being returned to Nauru detention centre . 'The medical reports tell me there have been reported incidences of her self-harming ... swallowing shampoo and swallowing nails . ' He also told the ABC he was concerned about the possibility of abuse at Nauru . ' I have medical material relating to this five-year-old girl , which informs me that she is displaying inappropriate sexualised behaviour , as a consequence of experiences that she has either seen or experienced directly or indirectly , on Nauru , ' he said . Mr Lawrence told Daily Mail Australia he met with the girl in detention in Darwin on Sunday and said it is the most heartbreaking case he has ever worked on . 'In over 20 years as a criminal barrister I can not explain how obscene it is to go on a prison visit to a client across the desk when the client is a five-year-old little girl . 'In the interview with the wee girl on Sunday , I just swooned and thought this is completely beyond the pale and I know she 's been a prisoner for over a year in the sh*t pit that is Nauru . ' ' I guess like all children she is strong , resilient and lovely , however when you ask her to write her name and she writes her detention number not her name and you ask her to draw her picture and she draws a stick person with a stitched up mouth , you realise how wrong it is for a five-year-old old to be in jail and of course her medical results completely confirm that , ' he said . The girl wrote her boat number when asked to write her name , and when asked to draw a picture of life on Nauru drew an image of a person with their lips sewn shut . Mr Lawrence said doctors and psychologists have recommended that she be released and that she should n't be returned to Nauru because of her post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorder . 'The government have got a child who has been damaged in their detention facility and they know she 's been damaged in their facility , she 's psychologically seriously damaged and should n't be returned to Nauru . ' Mr Lawrence said the girl 's mother had suffered episodes of depression as well as attempting self-harm . Mr Lawrence will lodge an injunction in the Federal Court against the Department in an attempt to block the family 's return to Nauru . A department spokesperson said all detainees had access to health care 'at a standard generally comparable ' to that available to the Australian community . But the department would not comment on an individual 's medical issues or transfer arrangements . 'Persons brought to Australia from a regional processing centre for medical reasons are clearly informed and clearly know that they will be returned ... to continue their refugee assessment and processing , ' the spokesperson said . A former building at Nauru detention centre in Nauru pictured in 2012 . Lawyers are fighting to stop the girl being sent back to the island . Last week the United Nations Children 's Fund says Australia is violating the rights of children being sent from Nauru to Cambodia under the refugee transfer agreement . UNICEF has joined a chorus of international agencies in raising concerns over the $ A40 million refugee resettlement pact with Cambodia , with the first of the refugees expected to be flown out from Nauru this week . UNICEF has warned that no government policy or action should knowingly put children 's lives or their well being at increased risk . A UNICEF spokesman , Chris de Bono , said Australia and Cambodia needed to be aware of their international obligation under the convention to protect children . 'The world has an expectation that as signatories to the convention on the rights of the child , whatever action they take , they will have given due consideration to its impact on children and they will put the best interests of the child as a primary concern in making any decision , ' de Bono told AAP . A recent Australian report by a former integrity commissioner , Philip Moss , on conditions at the Australian funded centre in Nauru was highly critical and detailed allegations of rape and assault , self harm among children , and trading of sexual favours for drugs . The UNICEF comments come against a backdrop of heightened fears over the welfare of the detainees both in Nauru and at detention centres in Australia , especially the Wickham Point facility in Darwin . On Saturday a number of detainees with at least one three-month-old child were flown from Darwin to Nauru despite protests . In the coming week , possibly as early as Monday , a charter plane is expected to fly out from Nauru with some 10 refugees for resettlement in Cambodia .
Lawyers are fighting to stop Iranian child being sent back to Nauru . Score: 6