After 96 Days, Church Finally Ends Prayer Service Preventing Family’s Deportation

The vigil ended after the Dutch Cabinet agreed to allow the refugee family to stay in the country.

February 1, 2019 12:59 pm
Hayarpi Tamrazyan (C) from Armenia attends a service in the Bethel church in The Hague, eastern Netherlands, on December 6, 2018, as the church is holding round-the-clock religious services to prevent the family from being deported. - The Bethel Church in The Hague, Netherlands, has taken advantage of a loophole in Dutch law which says that police cannot enter the premises while a religious service is underway. The five members of the Tamrazyan family, who have been living in the Netherlands for nine years, took refuge in the church on October 25, 2018 after Dutch authorities turned down their request for asylum. (Photo by Koen van Weel / ANP / AFP) / Netherlands OUT        (Photo credit should read KOEN VAN WEEL/AFP/Getty Images)
Hayarpi Tamrazyan (C) from Armenia attends a service in the Bethel church in The Hague, eastern Netherlands, on December 6, 2018, as the church is holding round-the-clock religious services to prevent the family from being deported. - The Bethel Church in The Hague, Netherlands, has taken advantage of a loophole in Dutch law which says that police cannot enter the premises while a religious service is underway. The five members of the Tamrazyan family, who have been living in the Netherlands for nine years, took refuge in the church on October 25, 2018 after Dutch authorities turned down their request for asylum. (Photo by Koen van Weel / ANP / AFP) / Netherlands OUT (Photo credit should read KOEN VAN WEEL/AFP/Getty Images)
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After 96 days, a Netherlands church this week finally ended an ongoing prayer service, which was being held round the clock to prevent an Armenian family from being deported.

Taking advantage of a Dutch law that prohibits police from entering a place of worship during a service, the Tamrazyan family and their supporters had been engaged in rites at Bethel Church in The Hague since October 26.

The service ended Wednesday when the Dutch Cabinet decided to allow the Tamrazyans and other families that were in danger of being deported to stay in the Netherlands.

The Tamrazyans and the other families had previously been rejected for permanent residence despite living in the country for years.

“We are incredibly grateful that hundreds of refugee families will have a safe future in the Netherlands,” said Bethel Church spokesman Theo Hettema.

The decision on the Tamrazyans came too late for a second family, the Grigoryans. That family of five was deported to Armenia last week prior to the cabinet’s decision.

“This is unfair and very painful,” their lawyer told Dutch news agency ANP. “If their deportation had been postponed a few days, the family would have been allowed to stay.”

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