A Dutch Protestant church has been holding around-the-clock church service in order to protect an Armenian family from deportation.

According to the Dutch law, the police cannot interrupt the service, and representative of Bethelkerk church in The Hague decided to use this opportunity to draw authorities’ attention to the problem of the Tamrazyan family, local Omroep West television reported.

The family came to the Netherlands back in 2010, but they face deportation.

In September one of the family members Hayarpi said they were granted refugee status at three separate court hearings but the Dutch state went to appeal each time. The family hope that junior justice minister Mark Harbers will use his powers of discretion to let them stay, as he eventually did in the case of the Armenian children Lily and Howick.