Migration dream over for young Pakistani
Purchase this article for republication
Buy SPH photos
LALA MUSA, Pakistan (AFP) - Ahmed Sohail is bewildered and angry. After eight years studying at the French government's expense, he was deported to Pakistan, one of tens of thousands of Pakistanis ordered to leave the EU last year.
Three months ago he was strolling down Paris's elegant boulevards in his designer trainers and trendy jeans like any young man about town with his friends.
Now the 23-year-old spends his days killing time among the dusty concrete streets of Lala Musa, a small town planted in the vast farmlands of the Punjab.
Like tens of thousands of Pakistanis who hoped to build a better life in Europe, Mr Ahmed's dream appears to be over. In all, more than 32,000 Pakistanis were ordered to leave the European Union in 2011, 1,545 from France and 6,430 from Britain.
