ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Afghan medical students have appealed to Pakistani authorities to allow them to complete their studies after the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council directed medical and dental institutions not to admit Afghan nationals during the current academic session and said those already enrolled should return to Afghanistan.
At least 43 Afghan students at two Lahore medical universities, including 26 women, have been instructed to complete departure formalities. King Edward Medical University has 22 affected Afghan students, while Fatima Jinnah Medical University has directed 21 Afghan women students to prepare to leave.
Female students have warned that returning to Afghanistan could effectively end their medical education because the Taliban continues to bar women from university study. The students said they were not asking for new admissions or preferential treatment, but for those already partway through their degrees to be allowed to finish.
The Afghan embassy in Islamabad described the policy as “forced deportation” and appealed for students’ academic rights to be protected. Around 1,000 Afghan students are studying in Punjab, approximately 400 of them in medical programmes, according to an embassy spokesperson.