Nauruan government denies deporting senior Australian doctor

The Nauruan government has denied deporting a senior doctor and attacked Australian media for reporting that it had, saying it showed why they “are not welcome in Nauru”.

Dr Nicole Montana, a senior doctor with Australia’s health contractor, IHMS, left Nauru on Wednesday after taking a photo “without authorisation” of a child on Nauru. Local laws prohibit photographs of “protected persons” inside or outside the regional processing centre on Nauru. The centre itself also prohibits staff from taking any photographs.

Police questioned Montana about the photo and she left the island soon after. IHMS stood Montana down almost immediately, saying she had breached regulations. She has since returned to Australia and been replaced.

The swiftness of IHMS’s actions has been criticised by advocates, who said it was hasty and “disgraceful”. Dr Barri Phatarfod, the founder of Doctors4Refugees, said Montana was given no benefit of the doubt, and said no doctor in Australia would be disciplined in a way so lacking in due process.

“Irrespective of what she has done, hasn’t done, or is reported to have done, the fact that IHMS has so quickly and so publicly cut her loose to me is disgraceful,” Phatarfod told Guardian Australia.

Guardian Australia was told this week that Montana was arrested and ordered from the island.

The Nauruan government has now denied Montana was arrested or deported. It said she was questioned by police and then released without charge. In a strongly worded statement, the Nauruan government singled out the “ABC and some other outlets” for criticism for reporting on the case.

IHMS refused to comment further when contacted on Thursday, including about the contents of the Nauruan government’s statement.

The statement said Montana was “welcome” to come back to the island as “her services are needed”. “There was no removal order issued against the doctor nor was the doctor deported from the island as reported in media,” it said.

“It is a shame that some sections of the Australian media continue to blatantly report false information about Nauru. This is the reason outlets like the ABC – who should immediately apologise publicly for this blatant breach of journalistic and ethical standards – are not welcome in Nauru.”

The incident is the latest in a series that have strained the relationship between medical professionals and Nauruan authorities.

Medecins Sans Frontieres was last week forced to stop providing care on the island.

A former IHMS senior medical officer, Dr Christopher Jones, last month had his visa suddenly cancelled by Nauru after arguments over medical transfers.