Listen to the audio version of the article
The Dutch government is shipwrecked on asylum policies. After weeks of talks, the four parties that made up the quadripartite coalition backing Mark Rutte’s fourth cabinet failed to agree on a number of immigration-related measures, leading to the crisis, Dutch media earlier reported. and then confirmed the spokesman of the Christian Union, one of the four majority parties. “We have decided to put an end to this government,” said Rim Kuijsten.
It was the prime minister who forced his hand this week, threatening to have his liberal-conservative party (the Vvd, which also has the majority) leave the government on the issue, unless an agreement is reached before the summer break.
The Vvd would have wanted to create a two-tier system for asylum seekers, in which people threatened with persecution would have enjoyed greater rights than those fleeing war zones, also putting an annual ceiling, 200, on family reunifications involving refugees in the second category. On this last point in particular, the differences would have become irremediable with the coalition partners, above all the Christian Union.
The Netherlands already has one of Europe’s most restrictive migration policies, but under pressure from right-wing parties, Rutte – the longest-serving Dutch prime minister, in office since 2010 – has sought to further reduce the influx of asylum seekers.
According to the newspaper De Telegraaf, at this point it is likely that the Netherlands will return to the vote in October.