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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Elena Becatoros

45 minutes to pack up a lifetime as Pakistan's foreigner crackdown sends Afghans scrambling

Pakistan Afghanistan Refugee

The order was clear and indisputable, the timeline startling. You have 45 minutes to pack up and leave Pakistan forever.

Sher Khan, a 42-year-old Afghan, had returned home from his job in a brick factory. He stared at the plainclothes policeman on the doorstep, his mind reeling. How could he pack up his whole life and leave the country of his birth in under an hour?

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