By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi
September 30, 2026

Fatima keeps attending her classes at Bolan Medical College in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province, but the third-year student from Afghanistan does not know how much longer she’ll be able to continue her studies.

“Today I don’t have any problem, but I am always afraid that the government could expel me at any time and send me back,” Fatima told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.

Fatima, who gave her first name only over security concerns, is among hundreds of Afghan medical and dental students caught between Pakistan’s tightening immigration policies targeting hundreds of thousands of Afghans and their own aspirations to become doctors.

An Afghan students’ organization estimates that more than 1,000 Afghans, including over 300 women, are currently studying medicine across Pakistan, though these figures have not been independently verified.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has publicly stated that enrolled students with valid legal documents may continue their education. But student advocates note this policy fails to address the hundreds who lack formal visas due to administrative backlogs or canceled refugee statuses.

The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) ordered Afghan students to return home and instructed colleges not to facilitate their enrollment for the current academic year.

The directives have triggered a wave of legal battles. In recent weeks, courts in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, and Islamabad have issued interim orders protecting students and doctors from immediate deportation.

However, the legal landscape remains fractured. While some courts have granted temporary relief, the Balochistan High Court recently dismissed petitions from Afghan medical students seeking to remain in the country.

For students like Fatima, a favorable court order may buy time to attend classes, but it offers no guarantee of a path toward graduation.

‘Everything Will End’

For Fatima, who is now in her third year at Bolan Medical College, being sent back could therefore leave her unable to finish her degree or achieve her goal of becoming a doctor.

The Taliban barred women and girls from universities in Afghanistan in December 2022, preventing women from continuing higher education and pursuing careers such as medicine.

That restriction has become even more severe for women seeking to become doctors. In December 2024, the Taliban ordered the closure of medical education programs for women, effectively blocking female students from medical training.

“If I go there, everything will end for me and my studies will be left unfinished,” Fatima said.

The threat is also amplified by her precarious immigration status in Pakistan. She lacks a valid Pakistani visa, having entered the country as a refugee using a Proof of Registration (PoR) card, a document Pakistan has moved to cancel.

RFE/RL repeatedly contacted Pakistan’s Interior Ministry regarding the visa and documentation crises facing these students but received no response.

Courts Intervene

In Karachi, the Sindh High Court originally halted deportation orders on September 14, and its constitutional bench extended this protection to 59 Afghan students-petitioners on September 29.

Among the petitioners are three final-year students — two of them women — at Dow Medical College who were admitted under Pakistan’s government-funded Allama Muhammad Iqbal Scholarship Program.

Expected to graduate in 2027, the students received protection from coercive action ahead of their scheduled court hearings.

A similar intervention occurred in Lahore, where the High Court earlier this month suspended the PMDC directives for 13 Afghan students enrolled at institutions including King Edward Medical University, Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Medical and Dental College, and the Services Institute of Medical Sciences.

The ruling allows them to continue their coursework and sit for examinations while their cases proceed.

In Peshawar, the High Court recently halted the deportation of Afghan medical students and demanded formal responses from state authorities. The court extended separate protections to 17 Afghan doctors undergoing postgraduate specialist training in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to their lawyer, Tariq Afghan, the doctors entered Pakistan legally, secured the necessary no-objection certificates from the Higher Education Commission, and had pending visa extensions.

Their training was abruptly disrupted by the PMDC order, but the court has paused their deportation while their applications are processed.

In Islamabad, judicial intervention has brought temporary stability to campus life.

“Students are back in their hostels and their studies are continuing,” said Sediq Shariati, head of an Afghan students’ organization in the capital.

A few recent cases also offer a glimmer of hope.

In Punjab’s Bahawalpur, a group of Afghan postgraduate students who had previously been detained and deported after their identity cards lost validity were recently granted formal Pakistani visas.

According to group representative Shamsur Rahman, eight of these doctors successfully appealed to Pakistani authorities, allowing them to cross back over the border and resume their unfinished residencies.

Written by Farangis Najibullah based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi

Copyright (c) 2026. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.

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