Jacqui Lambie and SBS crew caught up in IS attack in Syria

Former Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie and a Special Broadcasting Service film crew were forced to take cover while filming in war-torn Syria after gunfire from suspected IS insurgents broke out nearby.

Ms Lambie is participating in the SBS TV show Go Back To Where You Came From Live, which begins on Tuesday, alongside Sydney immigration lawyer Marina, when the attack occurred on Saturday.

It is understood the pair had been filming at a Syrian police compound when the area was fired on by multiple gunmen, reported by local police to be IS fighters.

Former Senator Jacqui Lambie and Marina were forced to take cover after a gunfight broke out in Syria.

SBS

Footage released on Tuesday shows members of the Go Back To Where You Came From Live crew running up a flight of stairs, shouting for the group to take cover.

“Gunshots, people running, trying to get to higher ground,” Marina, 28, says during the footage, describing the scenes outside.

“And I thought about my family and my partner – and how it would be for me to lose them or them to lose me.”

Ms Lambie, who holds controversial views on Islam and migration, has been sent to Syria as part of the Go Back to Where you Came From program.

SBS

Visibly distressed during the footage, Marina asks Ms Lambie if she “has a fear”.

“No, no I don’t,” the 47-year-old responds.

“Because of my faith, I just believe [if] my day’s up, it’s up – it’s that simple.

“It’s just my faith in God.”

Ms Lambie has previously described herself as Catholic - citing her faith in 2014 as a reason she'd declined an invite to tour a mosque.

The Sydney lawyer and immigration advocate was visibly upset during the footage.

SBS

The pair and crew were hosted by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a multi-ethnic and multi-religious militia which has clashed with IS and other opposition groups in recent years.

Reports from Syria suggest as many as 10 IS gunmen were killed during the subsequent shootout with local police, who managed to repel the attack.

Former Senator Jacqui Lambie has been vocal on issues such as Islam, migration and even the burqa.

AAP

Go Back To Where You Came From offers Australians with various views on immigration a first-hand glimpse at the global refugee crisis from various locations, including Syria.

In footage released on Monday, Ms Lambie and Marina toured the frontlines of Kurdish-held Syria – even coming face to face with the bodies of IS fighters.

"It's pretty ghastly," Ms Lambie said of the scene.

Sydney immigration lawyer Marina and Ms Lambie in Syria.

SBS

Ms Lambie served as a Tasmanian senator from 2014–2017. She has been highly critical migration levels and Islam, and even campaigned to ban in the burqa in Australia. She has also been vocal on veterans’ rights, having served as a corporal in the Australian Army.

As part of the show, Ms Lambie has been paired with lawyer Marina, a refugee advocate who fled the Bosnian War as a child.

“What we are doing wrong is demonising the act of seeking asylum,” Marina said in a promotional video.

“My family fled war, so I know what it means to be a forced migrant and to be accepted as a refugee.”

Go Back To Where You Came From Live airs over three nights from 2–4 October, 8.30pm, on SBS and SBS On Demand.

Go Back To Where You Came From Live