Amsterdam boy files new residency application; No deportation to Armenia yet

Mikael and his mother’s deportation has been temporarily postponed, the children’s rights organization Defence for Children confirmed to NOS after reports by Parool and the Volkskrant. The 11-year-old Amsterdam boy and his mother have submitted a new residency application to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND). According to the Volkskrant, Mikeal’s father submitted the application.

“The solution was actually obvious,” lawyer Dora Brouwer of the human rights law firm Prakken d’Oliveira told the Volkskrant. “Mikael is not only cared for by his mother but also by his father. And he does have a residency permit.” She called the new application “logical and promising.”

Mikael’s father is also Armenian but has a residency permit. He is married to a Dutch woman, and his children with her have Dutch nationality. According to Brouwer, the father is involved in Mikael’s life, and the two have a good relationship. They also filed a new application for Mikael’s mother because she cannot be separated from her son.

The Council of State ruled last month that Mikael, who was born and raised in Amsterdam, and his mother could not stay in the Netherlands because they were out of sight of the relevant authorities for too long. The ruling gave them 28 days to leave for Armenia. That legal term expired on Tuesday.

Mikael’s impending deportation caused a lot of stress and uncertainty for the boy, who has never been in Armenia, a family spokesperson previously said. It also sparked a protest march, petition, an email campaign targeting the NSC leader, and a hunger strike. Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema and the entire left-wing opposition pleaded with Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber to let the boy stay, but the far-right Minister repeatedly said there would be no exceptions.

An insider told Parool that Mikael’s father filed the residency permit based on the right to family life. They also said that the IND plans to process the application “expeditiously.”

The Ministry of Asylum and Migration would not comment beyond telling ANP that the case is with the IND.