Pakistan orders Afghan medical students home, bars new Afghan admissions

Pakistan's medical regulator has ordered Afghan medical and dental students to return to Afghanistan and barred new admissions, citing national policy. The Afghan Embassy expressed deep concern, noting the impact on students who invested years of study. Former diplomats and Amnesty International condemned the decision as discriminatory, especially toward female students facing Taliban education restrictions.

Pakistan's medical regulator, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC), has ordered Afghan students enrolled in medical and dental colleges across the country to return to Afghanistan and barred institutions from admitting new Afghan students. The decision, framed as a matter of national policy, comes amid deteriorating diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan's Taliban government. The Afghan Embassy in Islamabad released a statement expressing deep concern, emphasizing that many students had invested years of dedication, time, and considerable financial and personal resources and were now completing their academic programs. The embassy urged Pakistani authorities and international bodies to protect the students' academic rights. Former Pakistani ambassadors Mansoor Ahmad Khan and Asif Durrani criticized the decision. Durrani called it "shocking," particularly for young women already facing severe education restrictions under the Taliban, and urged Pakistan to allow students to complete their degrees. Amnesty International South Asia called the decision "patently discriminatory and arbitrary," noting the severe impact on female students who have little prospect of resuming their studies elsewhere.