Pakistan reviews visa extension for Afghan medical students amid uncertainty
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has said Afghan students without valid visas must leave the country, a decision that has in practice cast uncertainty over the continued studies of some medical and dental students. The move carries even heavier consequences for female students, given the restrictions on women’s and girls’ education in Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council asked Afghan students of medicine and dentistry in a letter to leave Pakistan and return to Afghanistan. The directive also asked medical higher education institutions to complete the administrative procedures related to these students, including issuing the necessary documents and facilitating their return.
A spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said foreign students staying in the country without valid visas must leave Pakistan. He added, however, that requests for visa extensions by Afghan students, including those in medical fields, are still under review on the basis of existing policies and regulations.
Even so, officials of Pakistan’s medical institutions have not clarified which specific policy also covers pre-registered students in medicine and dentistry under the order. No explanation has also been given about the status of students whose visa extension cases have not yet been finalised.
Following the issuance of the directive, some universities and medical institutions in Punjab province have begun implementing it. Lahore Health Sciences University, in an urgent letter, asked affiliated institutions to carry out the orders of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council.
King Edward Medical University has asked 22 Afghan students to complete the administrative steps for their departure. Five of them are women, and the students range from first year to final year; seven are in their final year of medical studies.
Fatima Jinnah Medical University has also asked 21 Afghan female students to complete the departure process. Some students said forced return could erase years of study and the money their families had spent.
Female students have also warned that returning to Afghanistan, given the educational restrictions imposed by the Taliban administration, would in effect mean losing the chance to continue their university studies. They have called on Pakistani officials to allow students who were previously admitted to universities in the country to continue their education until graduation.
The Taliban administration’s embassy in Islamabad has also described the move as the “forced expulsion” of students and has asked Pakistani education officials and international medical, educational and humanitarian organisations to support their educational rights. According to the embassy spokesman, about 1,000 Afghan students are studying at educational institutions across Punjab, of whom nearly 400 are enrolled in medical fields.
The decision has also drawn reactions from some Pakistani political and civil society figures. Mansoor Ahmad Khan, Pakistan’s former ambassador to Afghanistan, said that from a humanitarian point of view it would be better to allow these students to complete their studies and then return to Afghanistan. Asef Durrani, Pakistan’s former special representative for Afghanistan, also described the decision as “shocking.”
Punjab is one of the main centres for Afghan students studying in Pakistan, and the city of Lahore hosts some of the country’s most important medical educational institutions. The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council has so far not published precise figures on Afghan students of medicine and dentistry across Pakistan.
