Peshawar court suspends expulsion of 14 Afghan students from universities

Peshawar High Court has issued a new ruling suspending the expulsion of 14 Afghan students from medical and dental universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa until the case is reviewed further. Under the interim order, the students may continue their studies until the next court hearing.

The students said they were admitted under a special quota for Afghans at public and private universities, and that their admissions were carried out with the official approval of Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission and the issuance of a “no-objection certificate.” The central dispute, therefore, concerns the legality of admissions that had previously been approved by Pakistani authorities.

The students’ lawyer argued at the hearing that the decision by Pakistan’s Medical and Dental Council was taken without giving the students an opportunity to defend themselves and was contrary to the country’s constitutional principles. He also said Pakistan, under its international commitments, is obliged to protect the educational rights of refugees and cannot invalidate their lawful admissions after several years.

The court also ordered government officials to submit a written response within 14 days. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for October 12.

Cases involving Afghan students in Pakistan have also gone to court in other cities in recent weeks. Lahore High Court has issued several interim orders to stop the expulsion of Afghan students and has asked educational institutions to explain how students who studied for years at reputable universities were issued study visas, only for their admissions to now be described as “illegal.”

In Islamabad, civil lawyers and legal bodies, citing Pakistan’s domestic laws and international commitments, have also called for the expulsion process to be halted entirely. They have warned that continuing the process could leave hundreds of Afghan students facing an educational crisis and an uncertain future.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a province in northwestern Pakistan that borders Afghanistan, and a number of Afghan students and migrants are present in its educational institutions. The current case has taken on importance because it is tied to the right of students to continue their education after having entered universities years ago with official permission.