One of the off-duty employees of the Biharkeresztes Border Police Office spotted four men in the forest on the outskirts of Márettyószentmárton on December 25, 2020 at around 9 am. The policeman informed his colleagues, then the three men and the young boy who was with them were identified. Three of them declared themselves as Palestinians and one as a Syrian citizen, but they could not provide credible proof of the legality of their stay in Hungary.
In accordance with the Hungarian legislation in force, the police officers caught the three men and the juvenile and took them to the Biharkeresztes Border Police Office and then they were handed over to the Romanian authorities.