LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has restrained all medical colleges in Punjab from expelling Afghan students, ruling during the hearing of petitions filed by more than 30 Afghan students against their removal that no college may expel them or cancel their examination papers.
Justice Khalid Ishaq heard the Afghan students’ petitions. During the hearing, counsel for the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) took the position that the Afghan students do not possess the required documents.
The PM&DC lawyer said it is a principle worldwide that no person is allowed to stay without a valid visa.
Justice Khalid Ishaq asked how educational visas were issued to these students when they were granted admission to medical colleges. The court also raised the question of how a decision was taken to send the students back after four years of study, when they should have been heard before any action was taken against them.
The PM&DC counsel described the matter as one relating to state security and cited the example of visa laws in the United States, saying that in America too a person cannot stay without a valid visa.
Justice Khalid Ishaq observed that the Afghan students could be sent back after completing their medical education. Rejecting the position taken on state security, the court said there was no issue of state security in this matter.
The Lahore High Court directed that no medical college should expel the Afghan students and that their examination papers should not be cancelled. The court adjourned further proceedings until next Friday.
The development came a day after the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council clarified that there is no restriction on obtaining medical education in Pakistan on the basis of nationality.
In its statement, the PM&DC said the ongoing review of Afghan medical students is not discriminatory action against any particular nationality but a matter of compliance with rules and regulations and verification of documents.
According to the council, Pakistan welcomes foreign nationals wishing to obtain medical and dental education in the country in accordance with its regulatory framework and government policies, and foreign students who fulfil the prescribed academic, registration, documentary and immigration requirements are facilitated under the regular system.
The PM&DC said verification and regulatory review of Afghan medical students revealed that more than 200 Afghan students are studying medicine in Pakistan, but only 22 of them are currently registered with the PM&DC.
The council clarified that completing a medical degree does not by itself confer a right to stay in Pakistan for employment or medical practice, and that those wishing to practise medicine in Pakistan must fulfil the relevant licensing and registration requirements.
The PM&DC said that students who are not registered with the council and do not hold the required permission under the relevant laws cannot be considered foreign students legally enrolled in Pakistan’s regular medical education system.
The case lands in a busy season for medical education regulation, with the MDCAT scheduled for September 20 under Safe City camera monitoring and the Punjab health department having barred transfer NOCs for doctors.
The case sits at the intersection of two policy tracks: the federal government’s phased repatriation programme for Afghan nationals, and the regulatory tightening of foreign enrolment in Pakistan’s medical colleges, where seats for international students are governed by separate quotas, fee structures and registration conditions.
For the students concerned, the immediate relief is significant. Several of the petitioners are in the final years of a five-year MBBS programme, and expulsion at this stage would mean the loss of both the degree and the fees already paid, with no equivalent transfer pathway available in Afghanistan.
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