The police passed on information about 32 minors who were arrested while taking part in Extinction Rebellion demonstrations on the A12 motorway in The Hague to social workers, according to calculations by the Volkskrant.

Last month the police claimed to have reported at least 30 cases to a special hotline for suspected child abuse, because the children were in danger. Extinction Rebellion has described the reports as an attempt to interfere with the right to demonstrate.

Fewer youngsters have also now been spotted at the daily demos, which were halted last week after MPs agreed to vote on a motion to phase out fossil fuels, the VK said.

Most parents have not yet been approached by Veilig Huis social workers but one woman, who was arrested together with her 15-year-old daughter, told the paper that she had spoken to officials for around 30 minutes.

“They said I had put my child in danger and I needed to defend myself,” she said. The file on her daughter has since been closed because there were “no signs” that pointed to child abuse.

Veilig Huis receives some 120,000 reports of suspected child abuse every year and keeps the files for 20 years, unless parents apply to have them destroyed.