'Complete despair': Afghan female medical students fear being sent home from Pakistan

Nooria, which is not her real name, still remembers one of the moments that made her want to be a doctor.

It was back home in a village in Afghanistan, where she was born. A 13-year-old boy there became sick and died because of appendicitis.

"He was completely healthy, but the road was blocked and he died on the way. There are multiple incidents just like this."

"That and the potential I saw in myself, I thought I can be a doctor for them, I can help."

She fears that dream could now be over and that she could be sent back to Afghanistan. That would be the end of any chance at a career for Nooria who, as a woman, is barred from studying or working by Afghanistan's Taliban government.

Earlier this month, Pakistan's Medical and Dental Council - the medical education regulator - issued a letter to all medical and dental colleges across the country saying that students from Afghanistan studying in their colleges must return to their home country. Failure to follow the directive, it said, would be "viewed seriously" and may lead to regulatory action. A temporary stay order from the Lahore High Court stopped students in Punjab, such as Nooria, from being deported immediately until the next hearing, scheduled for Friday. There is no certainty that the stay will continue.

Since 2023, hundreds of thousands of Afghans have been deported from Pakistan and over two million have left according to the UN. These numbers increased as the relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan dramatically deteriorated in the last year. Pakistan has accused Afghanistan's Taliban government of harbouring militant groups, which it denies.

The announcement from the medical council was met with a strong reaction. Amnesty International called the decision "patently discriminatory and arbitrary" and said that "Pakistan has obligations under international human rights law to uphold the right to education without discrimination on the basis of national origin." Several of Pakistan's former envoys to Afghanistan also urged the council to reconsider; one called it "shocking" and "a question of humanity, compassion and Pakistan's own moral responsibility".

The council told the BBC that they can give no further comment while the court case continues, but their lawyer has told the BBC that none of the Afghan students were registered with PMDC. The students say that this is the responsibility of their colleges, not them; a notification issued by the PMDC earlier this year, external directs colleges to ensure that students are registered.

The medical and dental students the BBC has spoken to say they do not see how the relationship between the two countries should affect their ability to study.

For Nooria, this stings even more because she says it took a lot for her to get here. She first began studying at Kabul University, but as the Taliban forces approached the city, she left. She was offered what she thought at the time was a lifeline: the opportunity to study medicine in Pakistan on a scholarship. Now a final year student at a medical university in Lahore, she says she has given everything to the course.

"I was studying, day and night. I couldn't sleep because there was so much pressure and knowledge that I had accumulated in my mind. I got used to it a bit, but I have compromised a lot. My relationships, talking to my family, spending time with my friends. I think I haven't lived for these years, I have only studied for my dream."

So when she heard about the letter, Nooria was in shock. She's still nervous about the repercussions of speaking out, which is why she asked we don't reveal her name.

"We knocked on every door, our teachers, organisations, anyone we thought could help us. We are under so much pressure that we have completely forgotten about our studies, we don't know what will happen to us."

Final year students like Nooria have their last exams in just a few months. Said Mubin, another final year student in Punjab, is in the same position.

"I was in complete despair, my mind was blank. It was like a panic situation because they were giving us very short time to evacuate the (accommodation), the college," he says.

Other students have also brought cases across the country, but different directives have been issued, adding to the confusion. Some students told the BBC that they have finished their exams but not completed the practical training - known as a 'House Job' - to complete their medical education.

Without completing their degrees, both Mubin, Nooria and many other medical and dental students the BBC spoke to, fear that none of their credits will be recognised by another institution.

"It means you have to start from zero, from your first year," Mubin says.

Both Nooria and Mubin have valid student visas, seen by the BBC. The PMDC did not provide the BBC with the number of students they believe are affected, but Anayatullah Momand, a spokesperson for the Afghan medical students, has said that they estimate it's approximately 1,000 medical and dental students, 65% of whom have visa holders. Some are still waiting for a visa, but Momand said that 15% have had their visas cancelled or have not yet applied for one.

While the medical council's letter makes no distinction between students with the right documents, Pakistan's Ministry for Foreign Affair's spokesman did. "Our policy is that those Afghan students who are in Pakistan on a valid visa and registered for a valid course will continue and complete his or her education," said Sajjad Haider Khan during a recorded press conference at the ministry.

Similar comments were made the previous week, but the students say they have not seen any change to their situation.

With the outcome of her studies still uncertain, Nooria has been trying not to think about what returning to Afghanistan could mean.

"My family counted on me. These five years I have sacrificed everything that would be zero, multiplied by zero. And then I would become a poor and helpless Afghan female, facing this destiny. I cannot imagine this."