Dutch PM Mark Rutte resigns, govt collapses over immigration policy

Failing to reach a consensus on restricting immigration, the Dutch government suffered a collapse on Friday, making way for new elections in the fall.

The crisis was triggered by a push by Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party to limit the flow of asylum seekers to the Netherlands, which two of his four-party government coalition refused to support.

“It’s no secret that the coalition partners have differing opinions about immigration policy. Today we, unfortunately, have to conclude that those differences have become insurmountable. Therefore I will tender the resignation of the entire cabinet to the king,” Rutte said in a televised news conference.

Tensions within the government became more apparent earlier this week after Rutte demanded support for a proposal extended by him to limit the entrance of children of war refugees who are already in the Netherlands and to make families wait at least two years before they can be united.

Following the resignation of Rutte and the collapse of his government, the coalition government will take over as a caretaker government until a new administration is formed after new elections.

The national elections committee, however, said that polling cannot be held before mid-November, according to news agency ANP.

A caretaker government cannot decide on new policies, but Rutte said it would not affect the country’s support for Ukraine.

The Netherlands is Europe’s only country with the toughest immigration policies. To make things more difficult for Rutte, right-wing political parties have been putting pressure on the prime minister to seek ways to further reduce the inflow of asylum seekers.

Asylum applications in the Netherlands jumped by a third last year to over 46,000, and the government has projected they could increase to more than 70,000 this year – topping the previous high of 2015.

This will again put a strain on the country’s asylum facilities, where for months last year hundreds of refugees at a time were forced to sleep in the rough with little or no access to drinking water, sanitary facilities or health care.

Rutte, 56, is the longest-serving government leader in Dutch history and the most senior in the EU after Hungary’s Viktor Orban. He is expected to lead his VVD party again at the next elections.

Rutte’s current coalition, which came to power in January 2022, was his fourth consecutive administration since he became prime minister in October 2010.

With inputs from Reuters