World
Afghan Medical Students in Pakistan Fight Expulsion Order as Court Grants Temporary Relief
By Abid Hussain
Islamabad, Pakistan — Afghan medical students studying in Pakistan are facing the threat of expulsion after the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) ordered universities to send them home, though a court has temporarily halted the directive.
On September 1, the PMDC instructed universities and colleges to expel enrolled Afghan nationals and barred any new admissions, transfers, or migrations of Afghan students for the current academic year. According to the PMDC, more than 200 Afghan students are currently enrolled in medical or dental colleges across Pakistan, and most have been affected by the order.
One student, referred to as Alishba to protect her identity, was on a night shift in a Lahore maternity ward on September 8 when she learned she was among nearly two dozen Afghan nationals on her college's expulsion list. Students were given less than three days to prepare to leave.
On September 11, the Lahore High Court suspended enforcement of the PMDC directive after hearing petitions filed by Afghan students. Their lawyer, Asad Jamal, argued that the PMDC had overstepped its authority and denied students the chance to respond before being expelled, violating their rights to education and dignity. Justice Khalid Ishaq noted that some petitioners had studied in Pakistan for four years before receiving the expulsion notice.
The case is set to return to court on September 18, when the PMDC, the Ministry of National Health Services, and university vice chancellors must submit responses. Until then, students are permitted to attend classes, sit exams, and remain in their hostels without facing punitive action, according to Jamal.
The PMDC justified its directive by stating that only 22 Afghan students were properly registered with the council, including 14 graduates and eight nearing graduation. However, many affected students entered Pakistan through the Allama Iqbal Scholarship, a program run by Pakistan's Higher Education Commission (HEC) in coordination with the Pakistani embassy in Kabul. Students say they were never informed they needed separate registration with the PMDC.
Despite the court's intervention, some institutions had already begun issuing eviction notices, in some cases giving students only 24 hours to vacate hostel rooms.
The order comes amid deteriorating relations between Islamabad and the Taliban government in Kabul, marked by increased cross-border attacks and tensions. Pakistan launched its Illegal Foreigners' Repatriation Plan in late 2023, targeting undocumented migrants after authorities linked Afghan nationals to 14 of 24 suicide bombings recorded that year. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in June that more than 2.4 million Afghan nationals had returned to Afghanistan since the campaign began.
Students interviewed by Al Jazeera said the registration process was largely out of their hands, with universities—not students—responsible for submitting data to the PMDC. One student, Rizwan, a final-year medical student in Rawalpindi, said the gap traces back to a 2019 regulatory overhaul when the PMDC was dissolved and replaced by the Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC), before being reinstated by the Islamabad High Court in 2022. This transition left a backlog of students without clear registration status.
Students emphasized they never intended to remain in Pakistan beyond their studies and have no legal pathway to do so, as their visas are tied to student status. Zainab, a final-year student in Lahore who had previously been forced to abandon her studies in Afghanistan following the Taliban's 2021 ban on women's higher education, rejected comparisons to undocumented migrants.