An Afghan Tajik family including a nine-year-old child who was born in the Netherlands has been given temporary permission to stay in the country by immigration minister Gerd Leers.

The reprieve is conditional on the Qadiri family working to build up a new future in either Afghanistan or Tajikistan, where the mother comes from, Leers said. The compromise was worked out together with officials in the north eastern area of Coevorden, where the family currently lives.
Coevorden’s mayor had earlier ordered the local police force not to cooperate with efforts to deport the family. His position was supported by the entire local council, who oppose the deportation on humanitarian grounds.
The family says it cannot return to Afghanistan because the mother is a Christian from Tajikistan and is not welcome there. The Afghan father, in turn, is not allowed to enter Tajikistan.
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