Several hundred people have taken part in a march in support of an 11-year-old boy whom the Dutch government is planning to deport to Armenia, even though he was born and bred in Amsterdam.

Carrying banners reading “Mikael is already home”, the crowd of up to 500 marched through Amsterdam’s Zuidoost district, chanting “say it loud, say it clear, Mikael is welcome here”.

Solidariteitsmars Mikael – Mensen scanderen Mitchell Esajas na: ‘Say it loud, say it clear, Mikael is welcome here’ pic.twitter.com/amgz11KKbG

— Tahrim Ramdjan (@RamdjanTahrim) August 7, 2024

Their number included Royce de Vries, son of the murdered television crime reporter and Eduard Disch (79), who has been on hunger strike outside the immigration service offices for the past four weeks calling for a change in government policy.

Meanwhile immigration minister Marjolein Faber told RTL Nieuws earlier on Wednesday that there is nothing she can do, given the Council of State ruled the boy can be sent to Armenia, even though he has never been there.

“I can give him no hope,” Faber, who represents the far-right PVV in the cabinet, told the broadcaster. “We are not going to make any exceptions”.

It is up to the head of the IND immigration service to decide if an exception can be made in Mikael’s case, she said.

In 2021, the courts ruled that Mikael’s request for residency should not have been rejected but the IND appealed to the Council of State, which took 2.5 years to reach its decision.

Some 80,000 people have also signed a petition urging the government to allow the boy, who is due to start secondary school later this month, to stay.

Mikael’s mother came to the Netherlands 14 years ago and he was born three years later.