The Armenian family Tamrazyan, who have been living in a church in The Hague since the end of October in an effort to avoid deportation, will not be given the right to stay, news website Nu.nl has reported.

A spokesman for the Bethel church has told news website Nu.nl that junior justice minister Mark Harbers has told the family he will not use his powers of discretion to grant them a residency permit.

The church, which describes the minister’s position as ‘hard and unjust’, told Nu.nl it will continue to hold 24-hour church services so that police cannot enter the property and pick the family up. Some 650 volunteers have been involved in keeping the service going round the clock.

CNN, the New York Times and Time magazine are among the dozens of news organisations worldwide covering the progress of the family.

The Tamrazyan family – mother, father and three children – lived at a refugee centre in Katwijk before moving into the church and have been in the Netherlands for nine years.

Oldest daughter Hayarpi, who studies econometrics at Tilburg University, said in a Twitter message in September that her family was granted refugee status at three separate court hearings but that the Dutch state went to appeal each time. They were eventually rejected three years ago.

This case is particularly embarrassing for the coalition government because Hayarpi is an active member of ChristenUnie, which campaigned for changes in the child amnesty rules before becoming part of the coalition government.