Pak court stays order to expel Afghan medical students from colleges
A Pakistani court on Friday suspended an order directing medical and dental institutions to expel Afghan students and send them back to Afghanistan, offering immediate relief to those affected. The move came two days after the Pakistan government told institutions across the country to remove Afghan students and stop admitting them amid worsening ties between Islamabad and Kabul.
The Lahore High Court passed the interim order after some Afghan medical students challenged the government's decision and their "forced" repatriation. According to a court official, Justice Khalid Ishaq accepted the plea of 13 Afghan medical students and suspended the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council's order with immediate effect.
"The judge directed that Afghan students be allowed to continue education, sit their examinations and return to hostels," the official said. After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge also sought replies from the respondents, including the PMDC, the health ministry, and the vice chancellors of the medical universities and colleges concerned, at the next hearing on September 18.
The government's move threatens to disrupt the education and professional futures of hundreds of aspiring Afghan doctors and dentists. 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. One of the petitioners told the court that she had completed two years of medical studies in Afghanistan before being forced to abandon her education there because of Taliban restrictions on women's access to schooling.
In their plea, the students said, "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." The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan also condemned the decision to rusticate and repatriate Afghan students already enrolled in medical and dental institutions, 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 the 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, while urging 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.
For now, the court's order has allowed the 13 petitioners to continue their studies, appear for examinations and return to their hostels, while the broader challenge to the government's decision will be taken up again on September 18.
