The Hague Dutch church continues liturgy for second month in order to  prevent deportation of Armenian family

ArmInfo. In The Hague worshippers at a church in the Netherlands that have been holding round-the-clock prayer services for more than six weeks to prevent an Armenian family from being deported are hoping for a Christmas miracle.  The Reuters news  agency reports that since the end of October the Tamrazyan family, a  husband, a wife, and three children, continue to hide in the church.

The legislation of the Netherlands prohibits law enforcement agencies  to conduct actions in places where religious ceremonies are held.  Priests from different regions of the Netherlands, France, Italy and  Spain arrived in The Hague, and, replacing each other, they perform  continuous worship at the altar of the church.

They are "from all over the world, and that means a lot to our  family. ...It gives us strength to keep going," said daughter  Hayarpi, 21. "I really don't know what the outcome will be, but we  hope we can stay here because this is our home." 

The father of the family, Sasun, moved to the Netherlands from  Armenia with his wife and three children in 2008 to avoid persecution  for his political views. The authorities of the Netherlands now claim  that Armenia is now a safe country and the family can freely return  to their homeland.

Reuters recalls that in the 1960s and 1970s, the Netherlands accepted  a large number of labor migrants, but now it is one of the countries  with the toughest policies on migrants in Europe.