All Papers in Order.(reporter obtains papers to pose as Afghan refugee)(Brief Article)

How easy is it to make oneself over into a desperate Afghan refugee who deserves asylum in the West? Thousands of Pakistanis, Iranians, Central Asians and other Muslims have done it. Last week I did it, too. First I found one of the dozens of underground "travel agents" in Peshawar who specialize in smuggling illegal immigrants. Through him I arranged passport photos of me looking vaguely Afghan. The ruling Taliban militia, adhering to Islamic-fundamentalist customs, bars photographs showing human images. But as a practical matter, a travel document showing a woman covered from head to ankle in a burqa does not pass muster at any immigration counter, so the Taliban makes exceptions for passport photographs.

At a dingy studio in the labyrinthine Kissakhani market--literally "the bazaar of the storytellers"--I sat for portraits dressed in a loose- fitting Pakistani outfit with a dupatta, or shawl, over my hair. "Don't smile," advised an acquaintance. "Nobody smiles in Afghanistan." For my black-and-white portrait, the photographer dragged out an ancient wooden 2e-inch-format camera on a tripod; the device looked like something out of the British Raj. He focused burning-hot studio lights around me, then deftly removed the lens cap for a fraction of a second and replaced it. Somehow, all the exposures were spot on.

The photos were handed over to my agent, and a set of fraudulent documents ordered ...