Emanuele Vicari, a 25-year-old from the southern Italian island of Sicily, believes staying in the town of Manjimup in Western Australia's South West is his safest option.

He is one of more than 140,000 backpackers left in Australia who had to make the tough decision to stay or return home to their families.

As the COVID-19 pandemic closed Australia's borders to foreigners, local farmers in Manjimup began seeing a rise in the number of backpackers desperately looking for work.

Mr Vicari, who had already been in Australia for three months, was one of them.

Sicilian backpacker, Emanuele Vicari, 25, says he wants to stay in regional Western Australia because it's safe and sparsely populated. ( ABC Rural: Jon Daly )

For now, regional WA is a haven for Mr Vicari and a world away from the horrors at home.

"I don't think flying is a good thing right now," he said.

"At the moment, we need to stay away from places with lots of people."

However, Mr Vicari said, he would need to find some work before he ran out of money.

"It's getting hard, because there are not many jobs around and the farmers are getting scared while we're living in a hostel with a lot of people," he said.

"I can survive for another two months, but if I have to eat and pay rent I need to work and get money."

Backpackers 'desperate' for work

Harvey Giblett is owner-manager of Newton Brothers Orchards, which is the second biggest orchard operation in the state and heavily reliant on foreign workers during harvest.

Harvey Giblett says that instead of seeing an exodus of itinerate works, he has been inundated by jobseekers. ( ABC Rural: Jon Daly )

His orchard is one of the biggest employers in the highly productive food region of Manjimup.

Mr Giblett has not seen an exodus of his itinerate workforce as borders close amid the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies.

Instead, he has been inundated with backpackers desperate for work.

"A lot of people are coming through every day, and with coronavirus we've basically had to put up signs and tell them to not come in and look for work, but to instead make contact by phone," he said.

"People are still driving straight past the signs and seem to be quite desperate to get a job.

"They're not pleading for work, but they're very close to it."

Mr Giblett was confident enough travellers remained in Australia to harvest future crops.

Tomas Szdrnadel, 27, knowns if he returns home to the Czech Republic he won't be able to return to his Australian girlfriend. ( ABC Rural: Jon Daly )

Reasons to stay

Czech national Tomas Sztrnadel, 27, works in the orchard and has been in Australia for four months.

His plans to visit his family at home were thrown into disarray by the recent border closure.

"My plan is to stay here but, unfortunately, my sister has a wedding in July and I would like to go back," Mr Sztrnadel said.

Our best stories in your inbox Subscribe to Rural RoundUp: Get our best stories from rural and regional Australia every Friday.

"My girlfriend is Australian and she is supposed to come with me, but now she can't go because the borders are closed.

Mr Sztrnadel knowns if he goes home he will not be able to return.

French backpacker, Camille Capdevielle, 20, has decided to stay in Australia so she can continue her travels.

"I want to stay in Australia because it is a safe place for me now and I really want to come back for a second year," she said.

Ms Capdevielle said she only feared for the safety of her mother, a nurse in southern France.

A spokesperson for the Federal Government told the ABC foreign workers already in Australia would be able to apply for a visa extension.