THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — For more than a month, a rotating roster of preachers and visitors has been leading a non-stop, round-the-clock service at a small Protestant chapel in The Hague in an attempt to prevent the deportation of a family of Armenian asylum-seekers.
Under a centuries-old tradition, authorities in the Netherlands don't enter a church while a service is underway. That means that for now the Tamrazyan family — parents, their two daughters and son — are safe from Dutch immigration authorities who want to send them back to Armenia.
Theo Hettema, chair of the General Council of the Protestant Church of The Hague, said Friday that the service aims to shield the family and call attention to the plight of children in a similar situation.
