Array
The Netherlands is government by a parliamentary system and over the past year and a half the group in power was a coalition made up of four parties. Today that coalition collapsed over a disagreement on immigration policy. Specifically, Prime Minister Mark Rutte belongs to the conservative party and was trying to secure an agreement that would limit the number of asylum seekers coming into the country. But the smallest party which was part of the coalition refused to go along with his plan.
Rutte has led the Netherlands since October 2010 in four different coalitions, making him the longest-serving prime minister in Dutch history.
His VVD wanted to create a two-tier system for asylum seekers, with people under threat of persecution granted more rights than those fleeing war zones. It also said the number of family members who could join refugees in the second category should be capped at 200 per year.
But the party ran into opposition on the last point from the ChristenUnie, the smallest member of the four-party coalition, which said it was unwilling to break up families.
What’s driving this effort to change the rules is a sharp uptick in asylum seekers:
Asylum applications in the Netherlands jumped by over a third last year to over 47,000, and government figures said earlier this year that they expect some 70,000 applications in 2023…
“The decision was very difficult for us”, Mr Rutte told journalists as he announced his cabinet’s resignation.
