According to yesterday’s interview for a Bosnian portal, the Nigerian students say they want to go home to Nigeria immediately. If the Bosnian authorities intend to transfer them back to Croatia, they will only agree to go if they are accompanied by United Nations escorts.

Azra Omerović, of the Bosnian portal Žurnal, caught up with the students in East Sarajevo on December 10, 2019.

Original Žurnal Story Went Viral

On December 3, Žurnal published the story of two Nigerian students, Abia Uchenna Alexandro and Eboh Kenneth Chinedu, who allege that Croatian police illegally transferred them to Bosnia and Herzegovina. That story was picked up by several international publications including The Guardian and The Cable, a Nigerian portal. In the meantime, the students were transferred from Velika Kladuša to the Immigration Center in East Sarajevo, after being detained for questioning in Bihać.

The Croatian Ministry of Interior has dismissed allegations by the Nigerian students that they had been illegally transferred to Bosnia by the Croatian police.

Youth Hostel Manager Denies Students’ Account

Branimir Markač, the manager of HI Youth Hostel, the Zagreb hostel where the students stayed, has also disputed the students’ arrival and departure dates. He also denies that the students disappeared on the evening of November 17. He dismisses the students’ claims that an unidentified “friend” later came to pick up their passports, which they claim remained at his hostel after the students were allegedly “kidnapped” by Croatian police. The fact that the students could not remember the name of their hostel further muddies the narrative. There is unconfirmed speculation that the unidentified “friend” might be the other student in their group, who tried to enter Slovenia twice, applied for asylum in Croatia and is currently being housed in Zagreb.

Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs Intervened

Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairperson of Nigerians In Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), responded to the students’ claims on Saturday, after their account was picked up by The Cable in Nigeria.

“The Minister of Foreign Affairs is on this matter. It’s not as straightforward as you have reported, but the Minister has personally intervened. We should give an update as the intervention continues,” she wrote.

In their most recent interview with Žurnal, students say they cannot believe what is happening to them and have responded to allegations by the Croatian media and police.

We are Telling the Truth!

“We are scared, we were telling the truth about what the Croatian police did to us. They have accused us of lying because we want asylum in Croatia. We were legal in Croatia, and if we had wanted to seek asylum, we could have applied for it because we had visas,” Kenneth Chinedu insists.

The two Nigerian students are currently being housed in East Sarajevo, at the Center for Foreign Affairs of Bosnia. They say that they have been in custody the entire time.

Currently in Custody in East Sarajevo

“The police questioned us. We told them what happened, and we've been in custody here ever since. We are not allowed to go outside and we're not doing well at all. We need help, have someone help us. Send us home immediately or allow us to be escorted back to Croatia with UN representatives. We will not go to Croatia without UN representatives, maintains Alexandro.

Students Demand UN Escorts for Croatia

“If they want to send us to Croatia, we must be accompanied by the UN. They (the Croatian police) denied everything we said they did to us. We need someone to accompany us every moment and to keep track of what's happening. We are terrified of returning to Croatia after everything that they have done to us. We told the truth and stand by our story!” Alexandro reiterates.

Nigerian Official: There is ‘Back Story’

The Nigerian students are asking the Bosnian authorities to resolve their situation as quickly as possible because they did not enter Bosnia and Herzegovina illegally. However, the details of their transfer to Bosnia remain in dispute, and top Nigerian government official Abike Dabiri-Erewa confirmed that there is a “back story”.

“But whatever the circumstances, the most important thing is to get them back,” she emphasized in Saturday’s tweet.

Follow our Politics page to keep updated on this story and the migrant crisis in Croatia.

Croatia appears on many a list, and while it's typically placed at number one or close to it on ''must visit'' locations around the world, when it comes to much more serious matters to do with the economic and political climate, Croatia doesn't tend to fare too well, and with good reason. For a change, Croatia has managed to do quite well according to a recently published list by the United Nations (UN), which regards its Sustainable Development Agenda.

As Ljubica Gataric/VL/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 19th of November, 2018, according to a new report on the impact of social transfers on poverty within the European Union (EU), social transfers made in 2017 raised one third of the population's income above the currently accepted poverty risk limit.

Despite Croatia's unfavourable ''press'' when it comes to lists outside of travel bloggers and their often very surface level glance at the country, Croatia has taken 21st place the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, through which national governments committed themselves to eradicating poverty and hunger, developing education, making proper healthcare accessible for all, gender equality, and eradicating other forms of inequality.

Croatia has taken 21st place out of 155 on the UN's Sustainable Development List for 2018, and in relation to its first release back in 2016, the country has progressed by as many as fifteen places.

Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, and France are doing the best of all, with neighbouring Slovenia taking 8th place, Czech Republic taking 13th place, and behind Croatia lie many EU member states considered to be very developed, which is both encouraging in Croatia's respect, and concering with regard to those countries.

As mentioned, according to the new report on the impact of social transfers on poverty within the EU, social transfers made back in 2017 raised one third of the population's income above that of the considered poverty risk limit.

According to the members, social assistance withdrew 57 percent of Finns and 51 percent of Danes from their respective poverty zones, while social transfers made in Greece and Romania removed 16 percent of the risk groups out of the accepted poverty zone.

When it comes to social transfers made in Croatia, the number of those below the poverty line has been lessened by an entire quarter. Croatia is among the countries for which social transfers account for less than 6.2 percent of GDP, which is 2.7 percent below the European Union average.

Want to keep up with more information like this? Make sure to follow our politics page.

Click here for the original article by Ljubica Gataric/VL on Poslovni Dnevnik

ZAGREB, February 10, 2018 - The head of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Croatia, Giuseppe Di Caro, visited the Reception Centre for Asylum Seekers in Zagreb on Friday, the Ministry of the Interior said in a statement.

An incredibly busy weekend in Split greets the UN Secretary General.

UN Rapporteur on the right to health spoke about situation in Croatia.

Croatian President had several important meetings in New York.

The Sinj Alka tournament celebrated its 300^th anniversary last year. With plenty of events, exhibitions and presentations (including one in Brussels and another one in the United States), it was a wonderful celebration of a unique UNESCO protected event.

And there will be another opportunity to present the Alka, this time at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Here is an announcement from the Sinj Alka Knights Association:

In cooperation with His Excellency Vladimir Drobnjak, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Croatia to the United Nations in New York, the Alka Knights Association organizes a presentation of the Sinj Alka at the United Nations Headquarters in New York through an exhibition “Sinj Alka – 300 years”.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition will take place on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 at 18.00. Around hundred invited guests are expected from the UN and from the New York City administration. An Alka knight in Alka uniforms will be present. The exhibition will be open until April 8, 2016.

This project was financed by the Croatian Tourist Board and the Croatian House Foundation by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.

Croatia says it is ready for a bilateral solution with Slovenia.

Vesna Pusić's nomination for UN Secretary General causing disagreements