ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) has barred medical and dental colleges from granting admission or placement to Afghan students for the current academic session, and students previously enrolled in such programmes are “required to return to Afghanistan”, Dawn has learnt.
The policy decision was conveyed by the council to public and private medical institutions across the country earlier this month.
The PMDC communique, seen by Dawn, dated Sept 1, 2026, calls on all institutions to ensure the completion of administrative formalities to facilitate the departure of Afghan students.
“It is further reiterated that Afghan nationals previously enrolled in medical or dental programs in Pakistan are required to return to Afghanistan, in accordance with the prevailing policy directions,” said the PMDC communique.
“The concerned institutions shall ensure that all necessary administrative formalities, including issuance of requisite NOCs and facilitation of their departure are completed, accordingly,” added the council.
The development came amid reports, circulating on social media, about the alleged expulsion of Afghan nationals who were studying at public sector medical colleges in Lahore.
According to a health ministry official, an “in principle” decision had been made to send Afghan students enrolled in Pakistani medical universities back to their country, due to the ongoing tensions between Islamabad and Kabul.
“Letters have been written to all medical universities asking their constituent colleges about the number of Afghan nationals enrolled in medical and dental colleges. Universities have also been directed to provide details of how many students are studying in each year,” he explained.
The official said the PMDC had details of most Afghan medical students; however, “there remained a possibility that some may have been missed or mistakenly identified as nationals of other countries or as locals”.
“After getting the information, lists will be shared with the concerned quarters, and the rest will be decided by them,” he said.
However, he also clarified that the decision did not apply to students of other nationalities, only Afghan students.
When asked about the reported expulsion of Afghan students, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan told Dawn: “As per the Illegal Foreigner Repatriation Plan (IFRP), stay of any foreign national without a valid visa and passport is illegal, and the concerned individual is liable to deportation.”
Khan added that Pakistani authorities were continuing to process visa extension applications from Afghan students “in line with our existing policy, rules and regulations”.
The vice chancellor of a medical university confirmed receipt of the PMDC instructions, saying that institutions had begun collecting Afghan students’ particulars in line with the council’s instructions.
“There were a number of students enrolled in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Although we were directed to provide the data, we were not told why such action was being taken,” he said.
Millions of Afghans have poured into Pakistan over the past several decades, fleeing successive wars, including hundreds of thousands who arrived after the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
In June, the Ministry of Interior issued a directive to immediately arrest any Afghan national “found residing in Pakistan without a valid visa” from July 10.
A deportation drive first launched in 2023 was renewed in April last year when the government rescinded hundreds of thousands of residence permits for Afghans, warning them of arrests if they did not leave.
Last year alone, over a million Afghan nationals were deported by Pakistan, a Senate Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs, Gilgit-Baltistan and States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) was informed.
Pakistan deported a total of 1,155,221 Afghan nationals in 2025, top officials of the Ministry of Interior and Chief Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees told the meeting.
The repatriation push also comes as relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated. Pakistan has repeatedly urged the Afghan Taliban government to rein in terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan and prevent militant groups from carrying out attacks against Pakistan from Afghan soil. However, its appeals have gone unheeded.
