Two days later, a woman believed to be Sim was placed under "a kind of house arrest" by immigration officials and told she would be "deported" on Friday afternoon, refugees detained at the Australian offshore detention centre told BuzzFeed News.

"She was arrested yesterday and is detained a few blocks away from [hotel] Kohai Lodge," one detainee told BuzzFeed News.



"Apparently she has been escorted [by] almost 10 PNG police officers. We are really worried about her, she is Aussie," the detainee said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told BuzzFeed News: "The Australian Government is providing consular assistance to an Australian woman in Papua New Guinea who has been questioned on immigration matters. We will not comment further due to our privacy obligations."

Sim's friend Phoebe Crane confirmed Sim had been flown from Manus Island to Port Moresby where she was expected to touch down later on Friday afternoon.

"This whole mess came about because a person contacted the press and told them that Nikala was on Manus under false pretences," Crane said.

"Nikala was there as a private person who happens to be a journalist. This visit was not a work visit but a visit to see friends."

"She is devastated and hopes that the PNG government will see that she wasn't there under false pretenses."

