Burnt refugee's situation 'dire': Dutton

A Somali refugee is in a "dire situation" in a Brisbane hospital after setting herself alight on Nauru.

Hodan Yasin, 21, was transferred to Brisbane on Tuesday morning after suffering critical injuries from self-inflicted burns a day earlier.

Her actions came less than a week after Iranian man Omid Masoumali, 23, also set himself alight on the Pacific island before dying in Royal Brisbane Hospital on Friday.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told federal parliament on Tuesday afternoon that Ms Yasin remained in a critical condition.

"We can of course hope for the best possible outcome, but it is a dire situation," he said.

Mr Dutton said health staff numbers, including mental health officers, were being bolstered on Nauru.

But he earlier warned refugee advocates to stop giving advice to those in detention on the island.

"While some may be encouraged by messages of false hope and some may resort to extreme action, this government will not be dissuaded from its stated border protection policies," he told reporters in Canberra.

"(The advocates') intentions may be honourable and they may be noble in their own minds but they are causing serious harm."

Refugee Action Coalition's Ian Rintoul rejected Mr Dutton's suggestions.

"He should seek the advice of mental health experts before he makes such ill-informed pronouncements," Mr Rintoul said in a statement.

The United Nations' refugee agency on Tuesday warned the existing policy of offshore processing and prolonged detention was harmful.

"Despite efforts by the governments of Papua New Guinea and Nauru, arrangements in both countries have proved completely untenable," the UNHCR said in a statement.

World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello warned the government's current policies were leaving refugees without hope.

"In their determination to stop the boats, successive Australian governments have cast refugees into a no man's land of indefinite detention, out of sight, out of mind and out of conscience," he said.

Mr Dutton said the government wasn't going to change its policy of refusing to resettle anyone transferred to offshore processing centres on Nauru and Manus Island but asylum seekers could choose to relocate to Cambodia.

Meanwhile, Labor pledged to find new resettlement countries for the 1300 asylum seekers and refugees on Nauru and Manus, saying no pathway to permanent migration is leaving people desperate.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said Labor in government would make it clear through its actions that "we do not support indefinite detention".

"We have to have policies that avoid the drownings at sea and we also have to treat people decently within our care," Mr Shorten said.