Lahore: Some Afghan students on Thursday filed a petition in a Pakistani court challenging the government’s decision to expel them from medical and dental colleges and their “forced” repatriation to Afghanistan, amid deteriorating ties between the two countries. The Pakistan government on Wednesday ordered medical and dental institutions across the country to expel Afghan students and stop admitting them forthwith.
The move threatens to disrupt the education and professional futures of hundreds of aspiring Afghan doctors and dentists.
The government linked the decision to ongoing tensions between Islamabad and Kabul.
The decision has particularly affected students in the final stages of their undergraduate medical and dental programmes, including some who are only months away from completing their professional degrees.
On Thursday, some 13 Afghan medical students filed a petition through Advocate Asad Jamal in the Lahore High Court.
The petitioners pleaded that they were removed from their medical institutions on the direction of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC).
“The PMDC’s powers must be exercised within the bounds of the Constitution and Pakistan’s international legal obligations, and that neither the 2023 Act nor constitutional or international principles permit the council to act arbitrarily, particularly against students who have already invested years in their medical education in Lahore and across Pakistan,” said the petitioners.
One of the petitioners says she had completed two years of medical studies in Afghanistan before being forced to abandon her education there because of the Taliban restrictions on women’s access to schooling.
“The sudden and disruptive process led to their evictions from hostels by their respective colleges and left them without accommodation as their academic futures hang in the balance. The PMDC’s decision has caused significant distress among Afghan medical students studying across Pakistan,” they said.
The petitioners urged the court for an early hearing of their petition as it is an urgent matter.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) condemned the decision to rusticate and repatriate Afghan students already enrolled in medical and dental institutions in Pakistan, warning that the move could turn an education policy into a humanitarian crisis.
It said the decision, along with the reported bar on new admissions for Afghan students, had put the education, safety and future of young Afghans at immediate risk.
According to HRCP, around 100 Afghan medical and dental students in Lahore alone could be affected, including an estimated 20 to 40 women.
“Some students have now approached HRCP seeking not only legal and institutional support but also safe shelter,” it said.
The HRCP urged the government to immediately uphold the principle of non-refoulement, under which individuals should not be returned to a country where they face a serious risk of persecution or other grave harm.
The HRCP said there were well-documented risks faced by Afghans returning to Afghanistan, with women particularly vulnerable to restrictions and rights violations.
“No student should be forcibly returned without an individual assessment of the risks they face,” the commission said.
The rights body acknowledged Pakistan’s security concerns and strained relations with Afghanistan but said these could not justify collectively punishing students who were pursuing their education in Pakistan.
It demanded that the repatriation orders be suspended immediately and that the enrolment of affected students be restored.
The HRCP also called for arrangements for the students requiring protection and shelter.
