Pakistan has implemented a decisive closure of the Ghulam Khan border crossing with Afghanistan’s Khost province, enforcing new, stricter requirements for valid visas and passports. This policy shift, initiated on Friday, August 1, 2025, immediately halted the informal practice that previously allowed select individuals—such as medical patients—to cross using tokens rather than full travel documentation.

The abrupt closure has left many travellers stranded and provoked unease among traders and transporters whose livelihoods depend on this critical route.

Ghulam Khan is one of only three official border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan, alongside Torkham and Chaman, and serves as a key conduit for both commercial and passenger traffic. 

Since its formal opening in 2018, the Ghulam Khan crossing has functioned as a vital link, especially facilitating the export of fresh and dried fruits from Afghanistan to Pakistan and beyond. The route’s closure undermines not only the economic stability of local communities on both sides of the border but also the broader regional trade ecosystem.

The impact of the new restrictions remains somewhat ambiguous, as it is yet to be determined whether commercial trucks will also be barred or if the measures apply strictly to passenger crossings. This lack of clarity has generated significant anxiety within Afghanistan’s trading community, given the crossing’s importance. Frequent shutdowns of the Ghulam Khan route—most recently just weeks prior to the latest closure—have made it a repeated instrument of political leverage in times of dispute, aggravating frustrations among those who rely on its stability.

Observers and analysts warn that Islamabad’s inconsistent border policies are having severely detrimental effects on Afghanistan’s already precarious economy, at a time when bilateral relations are further strained.

The recent closure comes amid a dramatic surge in the forced return of Afghan refugees from Pakistan—a development with profound humanitarian implications. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), almost 1.2 million Afghan migrants have crossed back into Afghanistan between September 15, 2023, and June 30, 2025, either voluntarily or as a result of deportations.

Of these, 315,000 have returned in 2025 alone, including 51,000 forcibly deported by Pakistani authorities. Women and girls account for about half of the returnees who have received humanitarian assistance. A significant minority—about 2.2 percent—are people with disabilities, compounding the vulnerability of this population.

Conditions for these returnees are bleak. Many lack adequate housing, stable employment, or reliable access to essential services, deepening the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Only a fraction—more than 156,000, including 98,000 registered cardholders—have obtained some level of humanitarian assistance since their return.

Meanwhile, mounting political and security pressures within Pakistan threaten the long-term status of over two million Afghan refugees who have resided in the country for decades.

International aid agencies and the UNHCR have issued urgent calls to both Afghan authorities and the global community to scale up humanitarian support.

They warn that, without sustained and coordinated assistance, the ongoing wave of returns—coupled with disrupted cross-border trade—could worsen Afghanistan’s humanitarian emergency even further. The closure of the Ghulam Khan crossing thus not only disrupts daily life and commerce, but also risks fuelling instability and desperation across a volatile region.

Based On ANI Report