7 international volunteers were arrested on 14 October 2024 after having assisted 17 Syrian asylum seekers, including 12 minors, one of which was a 7-month old baby. The group had spent three days in a Bulgarian forest close to the Turkish border. The volunteers called the European emergency number 112 to request emergency assistance from the authorities and were upon arrival subsequently arrested and brought to the Elhovo Border Police station. At the station, the volunteers were subject to full strip search, placed in separate cells and denied lawyers or translators. After 15 hours the volunteers were released.

The volunteers belonged to the two NGOs Collettivo Rotte Balcaniche and No Name Kitchen, and have stated that their presence in the border region is required for more than emergency assistance, food and clothes. In a press statement, the groups state that the Bulgarian Border Police "routinely" perform illegal pushbacks over to Turkey. According to the statement, pushbacks sometimes follow a 112 call where authorities are made aware of the asylum seekers' whereabouts. The volunteers stated that they therefore stay with the groups of asylum seekers to monitor and prevent pushbacks from taking place.