Bosnian police had on Monday temporarily closed a border crossing to Croatia because a group of up to 200 migrants heading to the EU approached it on foot after being stuck in Bosnia for weeks.

The migrants have for some time been trying to cross over into Croatia and proceed toward the western countries of the European Union but they remained stuck in in Velika Kladusa, a northwestern town close to the border.

A group of between 150 and 200 people were stopped by the police from approaching the Velika Kladusa – Maljevac border.

Bosnia’s Security Minister Dragan Mektic said police has so far never used force against the migrants and has not done it Monday either.

“This is how we work for now, we don’t apply force. We prevent, we turn them away (from the border),” he said.

Mektic told reporters that authorities have so far registered 6,643 migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that 6,014 of them hve said they want asylum but only 611 have actually applied for it.

“It is obvious that they are still arriving here just to pass through, not one asylum request was granted,” he said.