Church’s endless service stops deportation

Armenian family given asylum in the Netherlands told to leave

Some Europeans have taken matters into their own hands to stop what they consider violations of refugees’ rights. In July, a Swedish student stopped the deportation of an Afghan asylum seeker by boarding the same plane, but refusing to take her seat. After two hours, the livestreamed act of civil disobedience forced authorities to escort the 52-year-old Afghan off the plane.

Now, a Protestant Danish church has launched an even more expansive effort to prevent a family’s deportation to Armenia, a former Soviet republic. Since October, the Hague-based Bethel Church has held an uninterrupted service to prevent authorities from entering the premises and deporting the family living there. According to Dutch law, police officers are not allowed to enter churches while services are ongoing.

“In the coming hours — day and night — people from all over the country will be serving in the Bethel neighborhood-and-church house,” an announcement on the church’s website has read since Oct. 26.

To the Bethel Church community, using that legal loophole appeared to be the only option after the Tamrazyan family was notified of their looming deportation in September. The family fled Armenia nine years ago because the father, Sasun Tamrazyan, started to receive death threats over his political activism, according to his claim for political asylum.

The family was initially granted asylum, but was not allowed to stay beyond this year. Officials rejected the family’s request to make use of a pardon option for families who have lived in the Netherlands for more than five years.