<p>Chandigarh: When Gurtej Singh travelled to Lebanon to earn a better living for the future of his family in Punjab, little did he know that he would have to wait 23 years to reunite with them.</p><p>A native of Mattewara village in Ludhiana district, Singh moved to Lebanon in 2001 with five to six people from his village. While the others returned home following the outbreak of a war in the country in 2006, Singh became stranded after losing his passport.</p><p>"I went to Lebanon in 2001 for work to give a better life to my family," said Singh, now aged 55.</p>.Tirupati laddu war in Andhra Pradesh: All you need to know.<p>"(When the war broke out) I also wanted to return to India. I went to the Indian Embassy several times but they wanted some proof (to issue a duplicate passport)," he told PTI on Saturday.</p><p>He finally returned to India on September 6 after AAP Rajya Sabha member Balbir Singh Seechewal raised the issue with the Ministry of External Affairs.</p><p>Seechewal said he took up the matter with the authorities concerned, following which a copy of Singh's lost passport was made available and he could finally return.</p><p>Singh admitted that, having lost his passport, he lived in constant fear of being caught.</p>.<p>He said he used to think how he would return to India in the absence of a passport. His family in India also tried to facilitate his return but in vain.</p><p>Unable to get a duplicate passport, Singh said he thought he might never see his family again.</p><p>"I used to think how I would go back to India," he said.</p><p>Before moving to the Lebanon -- where he worked as a labourer at a vegetable farm -- Singh was employed in a factory manufacturing sweaters in Ludhiana.</p><p>When he went to Lebanon, Singh said his elder son was six years old and the younger one was three.</p><p>"Now, my elder son has a six-year-old son," he said. His younger son is yet to get married. </p>
<p>Chandigarh: When Gurtej Singh travelled to Lebanon to earn a better living for the future of his family in Punjab, little did he know that he would have to wait 23 years to reunite with them.</p><p>A native of Mattewara village in Ludhiana district, Singh moved to Lebanon in 2001 with five to six people from his village. While the others returned home following the outbreak of a war in the country in 2006, Singh became stranded after losing his passport.</p><p>"I went to Lebanon in 2001 for work to give a better life to my family," said Singh, now aged 55.</p>.Tirupati laddu war in Andhra Pradesh: All you need to know.<p>"(When the war broke out) I also wanted to return to India. I went to the Indian Embassy several times but they wanted some proof (to issue a duplicate passport)," he told PTI on Saturday.</p><p>He finally returned to India on September 6 after AAP Rajya Sabha member Balbir Singh Seechewal raised the issue with the Ministry of External Affairs.</p><p>Seechewal said he took up the matter with the authorities concerned, following which a copy of Singh's lost passport was made available and he could finally return.</p><p>Singh admitted that, having lost his passport, he lived in constant fear of being caught.</p>.<p>He said he used to think how he would return to India in the absence of a passport. His family in India also tried to facilitate his return but in vain.</p><p>Unable to get a duplicate passport, Singh said he thought he might never see his family again.</p><p>"I used to think how I would go back to India," he said.</p><p>Before moving to the Lebanon -- where he worked as a labourer at a vegetable farm -- Singh was employed in a factory manufacturing sweaters in Ludhiana.</p><p>When he went to Lebanon, Singh said his elder son was six years old and the younger one was three.</p><p>"Now, my elder son has a six-year-old son," he said. His younger son is yet to get married. </p>