CNN
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Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said he is resigning his entire cabinet after failing to reach an agreement with coalition partners on immigration policy.
“It’s no secret that the coalition partners have different views on immigration policy,” he told a news conference on Friday night, according to a Reuters translation.
“Today, unfortunately, we have to conclude that these differences have become insurmountable. That is why, in writing, I will present the resignation of the entire cabinet to the king”, he added.
The move, which will bring down the Dutch government and trigger new elections, was prompted by differences between Rutte’s conservative VVD party and coalition counterparts over measures to limit the flow of asylum seekers into the country .
While the VVD is pushing for tighter controls, two of the four-party government coalition refused to support them.
Rutte’s party has proposed limiting entry to children of war refugees already in the country and making families wait at least two years before they can be reunited.
This plan has failed to impress the small Christian Union and the liberal D66, leading to the split.
“Migration is an important and important issue, both socially and politically. Now that we have not reached an agreement on this issue, we in the cabinet met to discuss the situation and collectively decided that the coalition had lost its political base,” Rutte said on Friday.
He called it “extremely unfortunate” but acknowledged the “political reality we cannot avoid”.
“Thus, the entire cabinet and its leaders have become a caretaker government. The next step will be to call for new elections,” he said.
The number of asylum applications received by the Netherlands increased from 36,620 in 2021 to 47,991 last yearwith the majority of applicants coming from Syria, according to the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service.
As of May this year, the country had received 16,097 applications.
The government estimates that requests could exceed 70,000 at the end of 2023.
