For the past three days, despite being in hotel quarantine, Harpinder Romana has not been able to wipe the smile off her face.
She was reunited with her three-year-old daughter Ashlyn over the weekend after 15 months apart.
"I don't know how to say in words, but I am loving every moment I'm spending with her in here," she said.
Like many Australian children, the little girl had been staying with grandparents in India before becoming stuck due to the coronavirus travel bans.
The reunion was only made possible through the kindness of a fellow Indian Australian, Yadwinder Singh, who Ms Romana contacted through Facebook to accompany Ashlyn on a commercial flight to Australia via Doha.
A number of airlines, including Qantas, have a policy of not accepting unaccompanied children on flights and with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) not making arrangements for unaccompanied children, Ms Romana turned to the Indian Australian community on social media.
Mr Singh said as a father of young children in Perth, he felt compelled to assist.
"When I listened to the stories of the shattered families - especially little kids being separated - it makes me really, really sad."
While undergoing his mandatory 14 days of quarantine in Sydney, he has now been contacted by other parents seeking information and help to bring their unaccompanied children in India back to Australia.
"They have asked me for my advice on the process of bringing their kids back home," he said.
"Some of them have asked me if I know someone who can assist them to bring their child back home to Australia."
'There is no plan'
Neha Sandhu is the administrator of a Facebook page for Australians seeking to come home from India, which now has more than 18,000 members.
She returned to Australia from India on a flight in June last year after being stranded there whilst taking care of her father-in-law. Recently she has been fielding enquiries from parents desperate to bring their unaccompanied children home to Australia.
"They are desperate to get their children back because of the risk of COVID," she said.
"The government has given them the number of registered children, but there is no plan [from the Australian government to bring the children home]."
"These parents are not sure how the government will help them. They want some kind of solution."
The Department of Foreign Affairs told Senate Estimates earlier this month at least 173 unaccompanied children were in India.
Three-year-old Ashlyn Romana has now been reunited with her mother after help from a stranger. Source: Supplied
Ms Sandhu said the list she has totals 130, and of that group, 66 are under the age of five.
She said parents have contacted government ministers and MPs and have not received a response.
"Parents want to hear back from their representatives or the ministers, if they could provide a solution. If there is some special repatriation arrangement like some 20 kids on a flight, with some dedicated carers, nurses or child safety officers.
"Something must be done to bring back the children."
Ms Sandhu said parents are instead being forced to take matters into their own hands.
"Everybody has their own plans to get the children home to Australia. One parent had applied for an exemption to go back and bring back the kid.
"Some had applied for the exemption and a visitor visa for one grandparent. So some [applications] are still in processing [by the Australian government], some got rejected.
"In the other category, there are some parents who are in the search of some carer to bring back their child."
Of the many parents with unaccompanied children that Ms Sandhu is contact with, she says only five were allocated a case worker to work through the issue of unaccompanied children.
"I request the allocation of case officers for every child so parents can discuss their options, and so that a feasible option is chosen," she said.
Safety concerns
UNICEF Australia said it is concerned about Australian parents being forced to make risky decisions to get their children home.
Its director of international programs, Felicity Butler-Wever, said safer solutions need to be found.
"UNICEF Australia is concerned that inadvertently this policy might be pushing parents to make more risky decisions than they otherwise would have.
"We wouldn't recommend that any parent is reaching out via social media to people that they don't know to accompany their children.
"We know children are particularly vulnerable and being in an environment where they are with someone that they don't know. We don't know whether they are a trustworthy person. It is problematic."
She said the interests of the child should be at the forefront, and arrangements should be made to ensure children can be accompanied by an adult they know and trust.
"There should be avenues for the parents to be talking to the Australian government, [avenues for] the Australian government to work with airlines, and to be finding exemptions, or working around these problem cases."
DFAT said on Friday it is working with Qantas to find a solution for unaccompanied children.
"DFAT is working with families in India and Australia to ensure the travel of minors is undertaken in appropriate and safe circumstances," it said in a statement.
"Where we are aware of a child who is unable to take a facilitated flight, we work with their family in Australia and India to assist with their return to Australia."
Plea for safe solutions
Ms Romana said she registered with DFAT eight or nine months ago, informing them about her daughter's situation as an unaccompanied minor. But despite emails and updates to her DFAT account, she received no response.
She said her first preference was not to contact someone through Facebook to bring her child home.
She has since received messages from other parents desperate for help.
"I have got so many phone calls and text messages from parents . The government should really do something about it," she said.
"Parents are really desperate to bring their kids home because it is really a bad situation at the moment in India, and it is affecting young people as well."
She said a special repatriation flight or carers accompanying the children on the plane are just some of the options that should be considered.
Harpinder Romana said the 15-month separation has been "really stressful". Source: Supplied
"If they [the Australian government] could arrange some carers [to accompany children] or if they come up with any other solution ... just bring the unaccompanied minors home - that would be great."
She would also like state authorities to allow a parent to quarantine with their child once they arrive in Australia, as she is currently doing.
Ms Sandhu said airlines like Air India, which allows unaccompanied children aged five and over on their flights, could be used to repatriate unaccompanied children - or Qantas could consider adopting a similar policy.
Qantas said it was aware of the problem.
"The combination of onboard COVID-19 safety measures and quarantine requirements makes transporting unaccompanied minors challenging," a spokesperson said.
"We are working closely with DFAT to try and find a solution to help bring these kids home and reunite families safely."
