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Lahore : Pakistan has ordered medical institutions across the country to expel Afghan students and halt fresh admissions amid deteriorating ties between Islamabad and Kabul, a senior government official said on Wednesday.
The decision could affect hundreds of Afghan students pursuing undergraduate medical and dental programmes in Pakistan, including some nearing graduation.
In a directive issued to medical and dental institutions, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council has barred them from granting admission or placement to Afghan students during the current academic session, a senior health ministry official said.
The official said the decision was taken in view of deteriorating relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan and applied only to Afghan nationals and not students from other countries.
The Foreign Office, however, indicated that Afghan students with valid travel and residency documents could continue to seek extension of their visas under existing rules.
“However, Pakistani authorities are continuing to process visa extension applications from Afghan students in accordance with our existing policy, rules and regulations,” he said.
The King Edward Medical University (KEMU) in Lahore became the first public-sector institution to implement the order, according to a university official.
“Twenty-two Afghan students are currently studying at KEMU, and they have been given 24 hours to complete the necessary legal and administrative formalities,” the official told PTI.
The development comes amid strained relations between Islamabad and Kabul over Pakistan’s allegations that the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan operates from sanctuaries on Afghan soil, a charge denied by the Taliban administration.
Tensions escalated further after a series of explosions in Kabul on October 9 last year and subsequent cross-border exchanges that caused casualties and damage on both sides.
Millions of Afghans have sought refuge in Pakistan over several decades, fleeing successive conflicts, including hundreds of thousands who crossed into the country after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistan launched a large-scale deportation drive against undocumented foreigners in 2023 and renewed it in April last year after cancelling hundreds of thousands of residence permits held by Afghan nationals.
In June, the interior ministry directed authorities to arrest Afghan nationals found living in Pakistan without valid visas from July 10.
More than one million Afghan nationals were deported from Pakistan last year alone. (Agencies)
