The Age reports "refugee advocates are demanding access to a family of three Afghani asylum seekers held in a secret location in Brisbane.
The mother, father and nine-year-old boy were found by locals on Saibai Island, an Australian territory just off the coast of Papua New Guinea, on March 21.
They are believed to have arrived by boat from PNG before being airlifted by immigration authorities to nearby Thursday Island for a medical check-up.
They were later transferred to the Royal Brisbane Hospital where the boy was to receive medical treatment for an undisclosed health problem.
Hazara Ethnic Society of Australia chairman Hassan Ghulam, whose organisation represents Afghanistan's persecuted Hazara minority in Australia, said he and another advocate had been prevented from meeting the family last Sunday by two guards at the hospital.
"We tried to convince them the child needs a little bit of support - I am a local, I know the language - but they said they could not let us in," Mr Ghulam said.
"Everybody knows good communication will help patients to recover.
"The hospital is acting like a jail."
The boy is believed to have been discharged from the hospital on Monday and is now being held under guard with his parents at an undisclosed location, presumably in Brisbane.
Refugee advocate Pamela Curr, a coordinator at Melbourne's Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said she could not believe claims by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA) that the family did not want to speak to anyone.
"DIMA's claims the family don't want to see anyone including Amnesty or Red Cross are not believable," Ms Curr said.
"Holding a sick child in incommunicado detention is outrageous in a democratic country."
Ms Curr said irrespective of the family's migrant status, they were "still human beings".
DIMA wants to detain these refugees on Nauru. The Pacific Solution continues as a blight on this country's human rights record.
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