A court in Ndola, Zambia, has dropped the charges of child trafficking against eight Croatian citizens, who now must leave the country in 48 hours, the Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Ministry confirmed on Monday.

Four Croatian couples were arrested early in December at the airport of Ndola, Zambia’s third largest city, on suspicion of child trafficking and document forgery because the validity of the documents on the adoption of minor children from the Democratic Republic of the Congo was questionable.

Two weeks ago they were released after meeting all the conditions set by the court.

Now that the charges have been dropped, the eight Croatians have 48 hours to leave Zambia.

“The competent institutions will provide the Croatian nationals with all the necessary assistance during their return to Croatia, as has been the case throughout the proceedings,” the ministry said in a statement.

It is not yet known what will happen with the children adopted by the four couples. The adopted children, who have Croatian documents, have been placed in the care of Zambian social services. Neither the adoptive parents nor Croatian diplomats were granted access to them.

The Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Ministry stressed in its statement that from the very first day the Croatian nationals had been provided with consular assistance in line with the Croatian Constitution and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.