Romanian and Afghan national broke through the ramp at the BiH and Croatia border, expelled under expedited procedure

(Patria) - In the late hours of September 4, 2024, the ramp was broken through at the Okruglica crossing point, located between the settlements of Donji Tiškovac (BiH) and Strmica (RH).

According to information received by members of the BiH Border Police from colleagues from the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Croatia, migrants were found in a vehicle and taken to the Knin Police Station, while the smugglers, the driver and co-driver, fled in the direction of BiH. Members of the Strmica Border Police Unit, during a patrol and detailed search of the area, found two foreign nationals (a citizen of Romania and Afghanistan) who were driving the said vehicle.

Given that the said foreign nationals illegally crossed the state border from RH to BiH (fleeing from members of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Croatia), with the consent of the duty prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office, a proposal for expulsion was sent to the Field Center for Affairs with Foreigners Livno. Under the expedited readmission procedure, the citizens of Romania and Afghanistan were handed over to police officers of the Knin Police Station, Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Croatia, at the Strmica Border Crossing.

Since the beginning of this year, there have been several cases where smugglers attempted to forcibly cross the border by vehicle, breaking through ramps at border crossings to avoid border control, thereby endangering not only their own lives but also the lives of police officers performing their regular duties. With continuous cooperation with neighboring countries, joint patrols, and information exchange, all measures and actions are being carried out with the aim of suppressing illegal border crossings and preventing human smuggling.