LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday barred medical colleges across Punjab from expelling Afghan medical students or cancelling their examinations after the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) directed enrolled Afghan students to return to Afghanistan.

Justice Khalid Ishaq issued the order while hearing petitions filed by more than 30 Afghan medical students challenging their expulsion from medical colleges in Pakistan.

During the hearing, the PMDC’s lawyer told the court that the students did not possess valid visas.

Justice Ishaq questioned how the students had been issued education visas when they were initially admitted to medical colleges.

“You have wasted four years of their lives and are now sending them back,” the judge remarked.

The PMDC lawyer told the court that the council had issued the directive in compliance with a state order.

Justice Ishaq questioned why the students had not been given an opportunity to present their case before the decision was implemented.

The PMDC lawyer argued that it was a universal principle that individuals could not remain in a country without valid visas.

The judge observed that Afghan students could be sent back, but said they should first be allowed to complete their medical education.

Referring to the United States, Justice Ishaq said people could not remain there without valid visas but stressed that courts in the US were independent and that courts in Pakistan were also independent.

The PMDC lawyer argued that the matter involved state security. Justice Ishaq rejected the argument, observing that no state security issue was involved in the case.

The court subsequently ordered that no medical college in Punjab should expel any Afghan student or cancel their examination papers.

The court adjourned further proceedings until September 18.

How the dispute began

The LHC order came after the PMDC issued a directive on Wednesday requiring Afghan medical and dental students already enrolled in Pakistani institutions to return to Afghanistan.

The council directed medical colleges to complete the necessary administrative formalities for the students’ return and instructed relevant authorities to issue the required no-objection certificates.

The PMDC also barred Afghan nationals from admission to medical and dental programmes during the current academic session and prohibited their placement, transfer or migration to medical and dental institutions.

Medical and dental institutions were instructed not to provide any form of facilitation to Afghan nationals and were directed to comply with previous instructions issued by the council.

Institutions that had not submitted compliance reports were given three days to provide complete details.

The PMDC warned that institutions failing to comply with the directives, withholding information or providing unauthorised facilitation could face action under the PMDC Act 2022.

The council said its September 1 letter concerning Afghan students reiterated instructions issued on July 31.

Decision draws criticism

The PMDC decision has drawn criticism from civil society and rights organisations, with calls for authorities to reconsider the policy on humanitarian grounds.

Former ambassador Mansoor Ahmad Khan urged the council to review the decision, citing humanitarian considerations and the longstanding ties between the peoples of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Amnesty International South Asia described the decision as “patently discriminatory and arbitrary in nature”, warning that its consequences could be particularly severe for female Afghan students.

The organisation said many Afghan women had already been denied access to higher education in Afghanistan amid what it described as the Taliban’s ongoing gender persecution.

Amnesty said many of the affected students had spent years studying medicine and could have little prospect of continuing their education elsewhere if forced to return.

It urged Pakistani authorities to adopt a humane and practical solution that would allow Afghan students, particularly women and girls, to complete their medical education.

Lawyer Moniza Kakar also criticised the decision, describing the forced return of Afghan medical students as “cruel and deeply unjust”.

She said the move could permanently undermine female students’ hopes of becoming doctors and urged the PMDC to withdraw the directive and allow the students to complete their degrees.