ISLAMABAD, Aug 8: The government has decided to expel all foreign students staying in Pakistan without no-objection certificates from their own countries, Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a press conference after returning from a two-day visit to Iran to attend a Joint Working Group meeting, the secretary said about 700 foreign students were studying in religious schools and universities in the country.

About half of them had not obtained NOCs from their countries and, therefore, they would be repatriated.

“The government has made it mandatory for foreign students to get NOC from their countries prior to their arrival in Pakistan for seeking admission to madressahs and other educational institutions,” he said.

Recently President Pervez Musharraf had pledged to expel an estimated 1,400 foreign students from the country religious schools.

The interior secretary said almost half of them had returned to their countries and about 700 were still in Pakistan.

“Almost 350 of them will be repatriated in the near future for not having NOC from their countries,” he said.