Two children who have lived in the Netherlands for nine years but face deportation to Armenia have gone into hiding while their mother is deported.

Armina Hambartsjumian, the mother of Lily (11) and Howick (12), was picked up at her home at a refugee centre in Amersfoort last week and was put on a flight to Paris on Monday, Defence for Children said. She will then be put on another plane to the Armenian capital city of Yerevan, according to DutchNews.nl-ը։

“We have never before come across a case in which a mother is deported while the children remain in the Netherlands,” Defence for Children said. The children were born in Russia and have never been to Armenia. Nor do they speak the language.

The children were not at home when their mother was picked up and their whereabouts are unknown. She has also refused to say where they are.

On August 11, judges in The Hague ruled that the family can be deported because the children do not qualify for the child amnesty introduced by the outgoing government in 2012. In order to qualify, children must have become rooted in the Netherlands and their families must have cooperated with attempts to deport them.

In addition, the fact that the mother has been separated from her children is her own fault, the court said.

On August 11, friends of the children made a last-ditch appeal to junior justice minister Klaas Dijkhoff for clemency. Supporters of the family say they should be allowed to stay while the coalition negotiations are ongoing.