The mood outside the arrivals gate at St. Pancras International Station at midday on Wednesday is one of excitement.
A group has gathered to meet the Paris train, holding gifts, flowers, and the Afghan flag. People chat away, one eye on the clock, but 10-year-old Irfanullah stays silent.
He is nervously stepping side to side, clutching a single flower in his hand. Yet when Obaidualluah finally wheels his silver suitcase through the gate, flanked by United Nations officers, the boy darts forward, leaping into his brother’s arms, and begins to sob.
