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Pakistani medical regulator orders expulsion of Afghan students

The medical council instructed colleges to expel Afghan students over registration rules, Al Jazeera reports.

The short version

  • The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council directed institutions to send enrolled Afghan students home and halt new Afghan admissions.[Al Jazeera]
  • Over 200 Afghan medical and dental students face expulsion, with the regulator citing lack of required registrations.[Al Jazeera]
  • Students claim they were never informed about the regulatory registration requirement by their institutions or government agencies.[Al Jazeera]
  • Pakistan's Foreign Ministry stated valid visa holders should stay to finish degrees, leaving the policy enforcement uncertain.[Al Jazeera]

Key facts

  • The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council directed colleges to send enrolled Afghan students home and prohibited new Afghan admissions for the academic year.[Al Jazeera]
  • More than 200 Afghan students are enrolled across Pakistani medical and dental colleges.[Al Jazeera]
  • The PMDC stated that foreign students must register with the council, claiming only 22 are presently registered.[Al Jazeera]
  • Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan stated that students with valid visas registered in degree programs are supposed to remain and finish studies.[Al Jazeera]

What remains uncertain

  • It remains unclear how colleges will reconcile the regulator's expulsion directive with the Foreign Ministry spokesperson's statement permitting valid visa holders to finish degrees.[Al Jazeera]

Sources

Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.