Having gone to Lebanon on work permits years ago, they said their hiring companies began paying them irregularly some years ago
CHANDIGARH (TIP): Five men from Punjab who were stranded in Lebanon for 3 to 10 years have safely returned home with the aid of humanitarian organization Khalsa Aid. Unpaid for 8 to 10 months and with their passports confiscated by agents, they had lost all hope amid the Israel-Iran war as the prospect of return diminished. Khalsa Aid intervened to help them.
The men whose safe return was facilitated are Karam Singh from Patiala, Dalbir Singh from Jalandhar, Harjinder Kumar from Jalandhar, Jaspreet Singh from Patiala and Vichitra Singh from Hoshiarpur.
Having gone to Lebanon on work permits years ago, they said their hiring companies began paying them irregularly some years ago. Things worsened during the present conflict and Israel-Iran tensions, which left Lebanon under heavy attack.
They claimed they had been making rounds to the Indian Embassy in Beirut for years. Their return was facilitated after Khalsa Aid founder Ravi Singh was informed of their plight by Pritpal Singh, head granthi of Adonis Gurdwara in Beirut. The issue was then taken up with Taranjit Singh Sandhu, senior IFS officer and present Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.
They said they faced insurmountable difficulties because one man had a leg disability, and Karam Singh from Patiala lost his mother while he was still making rounds to the embassy for years to return. Khalsa Aid and the youth appealed to the media that many other youths from Punjab and Haryana remain stranded in Lebanon at present and sought their return through intervention by the Indian Embassy.
Addressing the media, Jaspreet Singh Dahiya, Trustee of Khalsa Aid (India), said, “Due to increased tensions in the region, they had been awaiting their return home for a long time. Their passports had been kept by agents, and they had no documents to present at the embassy. During Khalsa Aid’s relief work in Lebanon amid the humanitarian crisis, Pritpal Singh, head granthi of Adonis Gurdwara in Beirut, intimated their plight to Ravi Singh. He immediately contacted senior official and Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Taranjit Singh Sandhu. With his help, necessary coordination was established with the Government of India and the Indian Embassy in Beirut. They facilitated their return within 10 days. They returned a month ago. But granthi Pritpal Singh keeps calling about other youths requiring help. We appeal to the Indian High Commission that they be brought back too. We shall also write to them formally.”
Harjinder Singh, a native of Dolike village in Jalandhar, said, “Most of us are factory workers. All of us went to Lebanon on legal work permits. We were promised USD 400 per month but received USD 350 or 300. Initially salaries were timely, then they became irregular and our agents kept our passports. Most of us haven’t been paid for 8 to 10 months. My own 8 months’ salary is unpaid. We made repeated rounds to the embassy, but no one was listening to us. We met Ravi Singh ji at the gurdwara one day and it was through Khalsa Aid that we made it back. We are immensely thankful to Khalsa Aid.”
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