‘Not dolls to play with’: Afghan medical students face Pakistan expulsion

Islamabad, Pakistan – Alishba*, a medical student, was on a maternity ward night shift in Lahore when her phone began filling with messages on September 8.“Someone said, ‘We’ve received a notification that almost 20 students are being expelled,’” she told Al Jazeera, her name changed to protect her identity. “My first reaction was, this is nonsense. How could a government expel students from universities without any reason?”Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘This is our home’: D-day for Afghans facing Pakistan deportationlist 2 of 4‘Illegal in own homes’: Afghan refugees caught in Pakistan-Taliban tensionslist 3 of 4How an Afghan girls’ school principal fled the Talibanlist 4 of 4‘Kill me here, but I am not going back’: An Afghan refugee in Pakistanend of listBy morning, it was not nonsense. She was one of nearly two dozen Afghan nationals named on her college’s expulsion list, circulating on Facebook within hours, all given less than three days to prepare to leave the only country where, as a woman, she has been able to study medicine at all.On September 1, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), the country’s medical regulator, ordered universities and college...