After multiple hospital admissions on Christmas Island following two weeks of crippling abdominal pain, .
The Tamil asylum seeker told SBS News the medical transfer came after nearly 20 days of worsening symptoms that included nearly constant vomiting and severe abdominal pain.
"In recent days, I was even vomiting via my nose as well."
Priya said medical staff at the Christmas Island hospital were adamant she needed treatment on the Australian mainland as there is no equipment on the remote island for a CT scan.
Mother Priya Murugappan has been evacuated from Christmas Island for medical treatment. Source: Supplied
She said the onsite detention centre medical staff from the International Health and Medical Services (IHMS) at Christmas Island had only given her Panadol and painkillers.
Priya and Nades Murugappan - and their two Australian-born children Kopika and Tharunicaa - have been detained on the island since August last year.
"It is because of the doctors at Christmas Island hospital fighting with the IHMS doctors that ensured I got this treatment urgently," she said.
"Every time I got unwell, the IHMS doctors never tried to identify what was wrong with me, they just gave me Panadol and painkillers."
SBS News contacted IHMS with these claims but was directed to the Australian Border Force.
Nades, Kopika and Tharunicaa on Christmas Island. Source: Supplied
The Department of Home Affairs told SBS News it "does not comment on individual cases".
Late Saturday, Priya was taken to the airport at Christmas Island where Nades and her two daughters were escorted by guards to say goodbye to her.
Priya said saying goodbye to her family was very difficult and her daughters started crying at the airport.
"They were asking if they could come with me. The children were heartbroken, it's very difficult for me not to be with them ... I have never been separated from my children for this long."
Priya has no idea how long she will be on the mainland separated from her family.
She said the Australian Border Force had not given the family access to wifi at the centre so she cannot video call her daughters.
"If Border Force gave permission, then I should be able to speak to my daughters on a video call and at least I could look at my children's faces and see them while I talk to them but Border Force has blocked that."
Priya said the plane used for the medical evacuation flight was very small but two Serco guards accompanied her on the 3.5 hour flight alongside medical staff.
The flight was met in Perth by police who checked Priya's temperature and gave her a letter explaining she was in two weeks quarantine while at the hospital. Priya said the guards with her did not appear to be told they were also in quarantine.
Priya had been told not to eat for four days which she understood was in case she required urgent surgery
She had a CT scan on Sunday and was advised she can now eat.
The Tamil family was removed from the rural Queensland community of Biloela in March 2018 and taken to a Melbourne immigration centre after their four-year bridging visa expired.
Kopika (right) and Tharunicaa, the daughters of the Biloela Tamil family at the detention centre on Christmas Island. Source: Supplied
Nades and Priya arrived in Australia by boat separately in 2012 and 2013. Both have claimed different reasons for seeking asylum from Sri Lanka. Priya reported being forced to watch her former husband be burnt alive.
In August last year, the government attempted to deport the family before a last-minute Federal Court injunction forced the plane carrying the family to land in Darwin.
From there they were moved to the recently re-opened immigration centre on Christmas Island, an Australian territory located approximately 350 kilometres off the Indonesian coast.
The Department of Home Affairs has repeatedly insisted the family does not meet the criteria for a protection visa.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has said the family will not remain in Australia.
Additional reporting: Peter Theodosiou
