THERE is a difference between enforcing immigration law and punishing students for the passport they carry. The Pakistan Medical and Dental Council’s decision to bar Afghan nationals from medical and dental admissions this session, while requiring those already enrolled to return home, crosses that line. The ostensible rationale is not difficult to discern. Relations with Kabul are badly strained and Pakistan is pressing ahead with its repatriation drive. The government has the right to regulate entry, residence and national security. But none of that explains why students studying through recognised institutions, particularly those with valid documentation, should have their education abruptly terminated. Indeed, the Foreign Office says visa-extension applications from Afghan students continue to be processed under existing rules, making the blanket nature of the PMDC directive even harder to defend.

For many Afghan students, return can amount to the destruction of an educational future. Afghanistan’s higher-education system is in tatters, while the Taliban’s restrictions have made prospects especially bleak for women. Girls remain barred from secondary school and women from university, and female medical education has also been suspended. To send students back into such an environment after they have secured places, paid fees and completed years of study is cruel. Pakistan’s anger over cross-border terrorism and Kabul’s failure to act against terrorist sanctuaries is justified. But students are not the Taliban government, nor should they be made instruments of bilateral pressure. At minimum, those legally enrolled should be allowed to complete their degrees, while new admissions can be reviewed under transparent visa and security rules. Pakistan has sheltered generations of Afghans, often at considerable cost. That history should not now end in a policy that mistakes vulnerability for culpability. Security policy can be firm without becoming indiscriminate. The state must withdraw this measure.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2026