Pakistan: Afghan medical students who are currently enrolled in a medical program in Pakistan were asked to leave the country within 24 hours after a new policy was introduced.
The order was not a result of any kind of academic failure or misconduct; the policy seemed more like the result of political tension amongst the countries.
The order is currently on hold temporarily.
Afghanistan has been infamous for barring women’s education in the country under the rule of the Taliban. Women in Afghanistan are not allowed to attend secondary school or university.
In December 2024, the Taliban government banned Afghan women from attending private medical schools. Due to this rule, none of the women in Afghanistan are able to study in the field of medicine, and there is no formal route for them to enter healthcare professions such as doctors, nurses, and midwives.
So amongst the students who were asked to leave the country were many female students whose future hung by a thread while the decision was kept on hold.
On September 1, 2026, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council ordered medical and dental institutions in Pakistan not to admit, transfer, or facilitate Afghan nationals during the current academic session. The council also ordered that Afghan students who were already enrolled in the medical and dental schools of Pakistan return to their country as per the new policy.
Many institutions in Punjab started to act as soon as the policy was introduced. According to reports by Arab News, 43 Afghan students at King Edward Medical University and Fatima Jinnah Medical University, including 26 women, were asked to finish their formal legalities and leave the campus within 24 hours.
These were all legitimate students who had come to Pakistan to seek education through a legal route. All of these students were on study visas, and many of them also had full-ride scholarships for their education in Pakistan.
Several students who later took legal action held fully funded scholarships through the Allama Muhammad Iqbal Scholarship Program for Afghan nationals.
These students picked a formal route, applied to universities, got admitted, and then entered Pakistan on a student visa. The policy change has come as a surprise to the students.
On September 11, the PMDC directives were suspended by the Lahore High Court. The order was suspended after 13 Afghan medical students petitioned against it.
The Lahore High Court then ordered that the policy was on hold and that the students who are already enrolled in the medical programs can continue their education, participate in college activities, and return to their hostels while the case is temporarily on hold.
Although recent reassurances offer some relief, conflicting signals from PMDC letters, university notices, and the Foreign Office have already triggered widespread panic and confusion.
Human Rights Watch asked the PMDC to take back the policy because it will directly hurt the future of female Afghan students, as they will be returning to a country that has banned female education.
A female Afghan medical student who is currently enrolled in a medical school in Pakistan told The Hindu that she had come to Pakistan to continue her studies, as forced to end her studies in Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban.
She also mentioned that she was one of the 20 women students out of 30,000 students who won a scholarship to study in Pakistan.
According to the reports, a few Afghan medical students who were in the fourth year of their course were deported even before the PMDC order.
Sediq Shariati, head of the Afghan Students Union in Pakistan, said in an interview with AMU TV that officials confirmed properly documented students are allowed to remain in school.
(Rh/ARC/MSM)
