After days of debate, the Dutch government collapsed in a dispute over family reunification for refugees. This is reported by several media, an official confirmation is still pending. Any new elections could take place in the autumn.
According to media reports, the Dutch government coalition under Prime Minister Mark Rutte broke up in the course of a dispute over migration policy. A crisis meeting of the four coalition partners led by Rutte had failed, reported the broadcasters NOS and RTL as well as the news agency ANP.
In three days of intensive negotiations, no agreement could be reached on asylum policy. The country would then face new elections in the fall. There was no government comment. Reuters reports that Rutte’s office has announced an emergency cabinet meeting but has not confirmed the end of the coalition. The dpa news agency also reports that the head of government wants to provide information on the situation in the evening after an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers.
In the past few days, there had been a rift in the four-party coalition because of a push by the conservative VVD party Ruttes. Specifically, two junior partners are said to have refused to make it more difficult for refugee families to meet in the Netherlands. Apparently, the initiative to dismiss the government came from the conservative party ChristenUnie.
Poor accommodation
Like other European countries, the Netherlands is also confronted with increasing immigration. According to the Reuters news agency, asylum applications there rose by a third to over 46,000 last year. 70,000 submissions are expected this year – according to the information, a new high since 2015. Around 18 million people live in the Netherlands.
For months in the past year, hundreds of refugees have been forced to sleep outdoors with little or no access to drinking water, sanitation or health care. Rutte had announced that the conditions in the facilities would be improved, in particular by reducing the number of refugees.
This is the fourth government led by the Liberal. The 56-year-old has been Prime Minister of the Netherlands for almost 13 years, making him one of the longest-serving heads of government in the EU.