The two children had been placed in foster care on the grounds that Gothenburg social services determined that they had been abused by their parents.

Despite this however, the children still face the threat of being deported sent back to Azerbaijan, because nobody had formally reported the incident to the police.

The children, who are aged two and four-years-old, were placed in a foster home after staff from the social services and treatment center in Kungälv north of Gothenburg, witnessed them being beaten by their parents.

The family arrived in Sweden several years ago and applied for residency.

The decision to place the children in care was taken in March after reports that the children had been slapped and hit, with the boy suffering a nose bleed on one occasion, the local Göteborgs-Posten daily reported.

The father told staff at the centre that he had hit the children when they cry and don’t stay quiet.

Despite the fact that the parents are not considered suitable to care for their children, the family still have a deportation order hanging over them.

The senior officer at Gothenburg border police, who will be responsible for carrying out the expulsion, finds it remarkable that no report has ever been filed by staff at the treatment centre.

“We have just received this case, but the suggested date for the repatriation no longer applies,” Lars Skoglund told the newspaper.

Under the terms of Sweden’s Care of Young Persons Act, there is scope to provide a temporary residence permit to a person in need of care.