ISLAMABAD: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has suspended an order by Pakistan’s medical regulator requiring Afghan nationals enrolled in medical and dental programs to return to their country, the students’ lawyer said on Friday, allowing them to continue their education in Pakistan.

Fourteen Afghan medical students filed a petition at the LHC on Thursday against the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PM&DC) orders on July 31 and September 1, which said Afghan nationals previously enrolled in Pakistani dental or medical programs were required to return to Afghanistan. The regulator instructed medical institutions to complete necessary administrative formalities, including documentation facilitating their departure.

As per a copy of the petition filed by a female Afghan student seen by Arab News, the plea requested the court to suspend the directives. It also asked the LHC to allow the student and other affected Afghan students to return to their colleges and hostels and continue their education until a final decision in the case is reached.

“Operation of PM&DC directives and orders of July 31 and September 1 have been suspended,” Asad Jamal, the counsel for the Afghan students, told Arab News.

Jamal said he argued before the court that the Afghan students were not heard and that their fundamental rights to be treated in accordance with law were violated. The lawyer said he also argued that the Afghan students’ rights to education, life and dignity were violated as the PM&DC had “transgressed its jurisdiction” under the PMDC Act of 2022.

Jamal said the regulator’s counsel argued that the operation of the orders should not be suspended as it is a matter of “national security,” which the court did not accept.

“It was expressly ordered that the operation of both the orders is suspended, and students will be allowed to continue education, sit in exams and go back to hostels,” Jamal said.

Arab News did not receive a response from the PM&DC for its comment on the order till the filing of this report.

‘NO BLANKET BAN’

The development takes place a day after Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan clarified that Afghan medical and dental students who have valid visas and are enrolled in Pakistani educational programs will not be forced to return.

“Those who are holding valid visas and registered in valid degree programs, they will continue and they will complete their education in Pakistan,” Khan told reporters during a weekly briefing in Islamabad on Thursday.

He urged the reporters to seek further clarification from the PM&DC on its orders.

The dispute comes against the backdrop of Pakistan’s widening campaign to repatriate Afghan nationals and sharply deteriorating relations with Afghanistan’s Taliban government amid rising militant attacks which Islamabad blames on groups it says are sheltered by Kabul. Afghan authorities deny the allegation.

More than 2.6 million Afghans returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan between September 2023 and July 31, 2026, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Pakistan says the repatriations are necessary for national security and immigration enforcement, while the United Nations and rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns over forced returns, particularly of vulnerable Afghans.