Guards keeping watch over a baby awaiting deportation to Nauru are refusing to let the baby's advocate speak to her mother at a Brisbane hospital, the advocate has claimed.
Twelve-month-old Asha has recovered from accidental burns she suffered from boiling water while in detention on Nauru, but staff at the Lady Cilento Children's Hospital are refusing to discharge her until "a suitable home environment is identified".
Natasha Blucher, Asha's former Nauru detention centre caseworker, said she visited the mother and child in hospital on Tuesday morning with permission from the Immigration Department.
But when she again tried to visit hours later she was told by immigration guards she was not allowed to enter the room.
She resubmitted her application to see the family on Wednesday and Thursday but says she hasn't heard back from the department.
She said she didn't know why her approval to see the family had been revoked.
Ms Blucher was the family's caseworker on Nauru through Save the Children and was also a support person for Asha's mother when she was taken to Darwin to give birth.
She has visited Asha's mother only once in hospital, but said she had spoken to her about twice since the family was flown to Brisbane in late January for the girl's treatment.
Aside from hospital and immigration staff, the family had no other visitors, she said.
"They really need the emotional support of someone who has known them for a decent period of time," Ms Blucher told AAP.
"I mean they're in a really full-on situation ... and they're from a trauma background which means they have trouble trusting."
Responding to criticism that advocacy groups were using Asha's case to push their wider agenda, Ms Blucher said she was only concerned about the family's welfare.
Ms Blucher said Asha's mother was overwhelmed by the support from those who had rallied outside the hospital almost daily since last Friday.
The government has remained firm on returning Asha and her parents to Nauru but has said it will give the family 72 hours' notice.
A "Let Them Stay" banner was draped from the Goodwill Bridge, near the hospital, on Thursday in support of medical staff and the broader #LetThemStay campaign, which is urging the federal government to let 267 asylum seekers facing deportation resettle in Australia.
Comment has been sought from the Immigration Department.
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