"Come sweetheart," a father coos to his daughter.
The baby cries and looks away.
The crumpled young dad breaks down in tears as his 11-month-old is taken away by her carer.
It's one of the heartbreaking moments that captivated viewers in the SBS series Go Back To Where You Came From Live.
The young dad is Feras, a Syrian refugee whose harrowing survival journey is captured in the three-part documentary special, aimed at giving Australians a better understanding of the refugee crisis.
Feras fled war-torn Syria with his wife and two children in 2015 but with poor access to health care, Feras's wife died giving birth to their daughter Susan. Struggling with housing and unemployment, and without the resources to care for baby Susan, Feras has been forced to give his baby to another Syrian refugee family to raise.
"Every couple of months, every couple of days, we're somewhere different," Feras says.
Former Big Brother host Gretel Killeen and Steve, a former prison guard, are visibly moved by Feras' anguish and heartbreak at seeing Susan struggle to recognise and acknowledge him during one of his visits to see her.
An emotional Feras. Source: Supplied
"I'm a mum. I completely understand. He is completely devastated. He's a parent and disconnected from his own baby," said Killeen.
Feras' fortunes are in polar opposite to his brother Salah and his family, who Killeen and Steve met in Sydney. Where Feras' application for asylum was rejected, his brother Salah was granted asylum and arrived in Australia in 2016 after spending time in cramped refugee house in Lebanon.
Killeen and Steve questioned why he would dare to make such dangerous trip.
"Even if the children and I die...here we die a thousand times a day," he said.
"Is the best option to leave Feras in Turkey? Probably not. Being reasonable you'd have to say that Australia probably is the best option," Steve conceded.
airs over three consecutive nights, October 2 – 4, 8.30pm, LIVE on SBS Australia and streaming live at .
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Go Back to Where You Came From Live
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