Late on Wednesday, September 4, a ramp was breached at the Okruglica border crossing between Donji Tiškovac (BiH) and Strmica (Croatia), according to a report from the Border Police of Bosnia and Herzegovina (GPBiH).

“Based on information received from the Croatian Ministry of the Interior, migrants were discovered in the vehicle and taken to the Knin Police Station, while the smugglers—both the driver and the passenger—fled towards Bosnia and Herzegovina.

During patrols and detailed searches in the area, members of the BiH BP Strmica Unit located two foreign nationals, a Romanian and an Afghan citizen, who had been in the vehicle.

As these individuals illegally crossed the border from Croatia into Bosnia and Herzegovina while fleeing from Croatian police, a proposal for their expulsion was submitted to the Livno Field Center of the Service for Foreigners’ Affairs with approval from the on-duty prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office.

Under a fast-track readmission process, the Romanian and Afghan nationals were handed over to the Knin Police Station officers from the Croatian Ministry of the Interior at the Strmica border crossing, according to the BiH BP.

The GPBiH noted that several attempts have been made this year by smugglers to forcibly cross the border by breaking through barriers at border crossings, evading control, and endangering both their own lives and those of police officers on duty.

The BiH Border Police emphasized that they are taking all necessary measures to prevent illegal border crossings and human smuggling through ongoing cooperation with neighboring countries, joint patrols, and information exchange.”