Two Armenian kids – Lili and Howick – can stay in the Netherlands because of “changed circumstances”, Dutch Justice Ministry said in a statement.

Junior justice minister Mark Harbers has used his right of discretion to grant residency permits to two children who were threatened with deportation, Dutch News reported.

On Friday night children disappeared from their carers’ home, and it is unclear where they are now.

“In the case of the children Lili and Howick, the Dutch government has done all it could, together with the Armenian authorities, to prepare solid care for them. Armenia is a safe land where the children could be reunited with their mother,” the ministry said. “However, developments in the past few hours have shown that the welfare and the safety of the children could no longer be guaranteed. Taking all this into consideration, the minister has decided the children can stay in the Netherlands. “All the agencies involved are now doing all they can to find the children and make sure they are safe.”

Court cast Late on Friday night, judges ruled in an emergency session that additional information about the psychiatric problems facing the children’s mother, who was deported a year ago, was not enough to prevent Lili and Howick being sent to Armenia.