QAMC Bahawalpur Afghan students are now being asked to leave. The Quaid-i-Azam Medical College (QAMC) in Bahawalpur has begun the process to immediately expel its 20 Afghan postgraduate residents (PGRs) and students, a QAMC source confirmed. The group includes 12 PGRs and eight medical students, and they have been told to return to their country at the earliest.
The move follows a notification from the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), the national regulator for medical and dental education. On Sept 1, the PMDC directed Afghan medical students enrolled in Pakistani colleges to return to Afghanistan. The same notification barred medical and dental colleges from admitting or placing Afghan students for the current academic session.
What the college has ordered
For QAMC Bahawalpur Afghan students, the instructions are now specific. It is understood that 12 PGRs have been asked to vacate their hostels and complete the process of leaving their departments and courses. These include FCPS, surgery, urology, radiology, cardiology and other programmes, and the process to expel the eight medical students is also under way.
The students have been directed to clear their dues and obtain no objection certificates (NOCs), which are written sign-offs showing they owe nothing to an institution, along with clearance certificates from their departments. The college administration has also written to the district police officer (DPO), the director finance of QAMC, UHS and the Punjab Health Foundation. It has shared the students' passport numbers and other details and asked for arrangements to be made for their return.
Court orders and the unresolved question
The QAMC source said the action continues an earlier order, and that fresh orders have been issued in light of instructions from the government. The sources do not say which government body issued those instructions, or how they relate to the court proceedings.
Thirteen Afghan medical students had filed multiple petitions before the Lahore High Court (LHC) challenging the PMDC directives. On Sept 11, the LHC suspended those directives. The PMDC notification itself was also suspended by a high court, and it drew criticism from human rights bodies. The reporting does not explain how the college's current steps fit with that suspension, so the legal position remains unclear.
Reports also circulated about alleged expulsions of Afghan nationals at public-sector medical colleges in Punjab, including King Edward Medical University (KEMU), Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Medical & Dental College and the Services Institute of Medical Sciences. These alleged expulsions were not confirmed in the sources, so they remain unverified.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Sept 1: The PMDC issues a notification directing Afghan medical students to return to Afghanistan and barring new admissions for the current academic session.
- Date not given: Reports circulate about alleged expulsions of Afghan nationals at public-sector medical colleges in Punjab.
- Sept 11: The Lahore High Court suspends the PMDC directives that ordered Afghan medical students to return.
- Current report: QAMC Bahawalpur begins the process to expel 20 Afghan PGRs and students.
Aasan alfaaz mein
QAMC Bahawalpur ne 20 Afghan postgraduate residents aur students ko nikalne ka amal shuru kar diya hai. Inmein 12 PGRs aur 8 students shamil hain, jinse kaha gaya hai ke hostel khali karein, dues clear karein aur apne mulk wapas jayein. Yeh faisla PMDC ke 1 September ke notification se juda hai, lekin Lahore High Court ne 11 September ko PMDC ki hidayat suspend kar di thi. Aam logon ke liye yeh Afghan tulba ki tibbi taleem ka ahem maamla hai, jis par aage khabar milti rahegi.
