Dutch Govt. collapses over immigration policy dispute

THE NETHERLANDS: The Dutch Government has collapsed after failing to reach an agreement on curbing immigration. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Friday that his Government would tender its resignation to the Dutch king, triggering new elections to be held in the fall.

Rutte, who has been in power since 2010 and is Europe’s second-longest serving leader, said that disputes over measures to restrict immigration had caused his four-party coalition government to fracture.

“It’s no secret that the coalition partners have differing opinions about immigration policy,” Rutte said at a press conference late Friday night, claiming that “those differences have become insurmountable.” King Willem-Alexander who returned early from his vacation met Rutte on Saturday, when the Prime Minister formally offer his resignation. The move was sparked by differences between Rutte’s conservative VVD party and coalition counterparts over measures to limit the flow of asylum seekers to the country.

Rutte said the coalition had “lost its political foundation” after the breakdown in negotiations. “That is extremely regrettable and at the same time a political reality we cannot avoid,” he said. The number of applications the Netherlands received related to asylum jumped from 36,620 in 2021 to 47,991 last year, with most applicants coming from Syria, according to the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander speaking at an event to commemorate the anniversary of the abolition of slavery by the Netherlands, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Saturday, July 1, 2023 apologised for the royal house’s role in slavery and asked for forgiveness. – CNN