India’s Covid pandemic: Girl, 5, separated from family by Australia restrictions

Dilin was unable to hold back his emotions when he talked about his young daughter, who he has not seen since November 2019.

"I can certainly see the sorrow in her heart… she truly misses us," he told an Australian Senate committee on Friday.

Johannah, 5, is one of at least 173 unaccompanied children who are stuck in India trying to return to Australia.

She was staying with her grandparents when the pandemic struck and borders were closed.

Johannah's parents tried to get her on government organised flights to Sydney but children younger than 14 are not allowed to travel alone on the repatriation trips.

Qantas, which operates flights between India and Australia, also does not allow unaccompanied minors, so the couple's only other option is to charter a private plane or fly with Air India. However, until recently Johanna was still too young.

Drisya and Dilin did not risk trying to fly back to India to be with Johannah because of the limited flights to return to Australia from there.

The coupled feared they would join the 9,000 people in India struggling to get home to Australia.