In the Netherlands, the migration crisis has turned into a government crisis. Thus, Prime Minister Mark Rutte resigned on July 7.
Rutte’s government collapsed after the coalition parties failed to agree on migration policy, the NOS media reported. New parliamentary elections are likely to be held in November.
Mark Rutte has been head of the Dutch government since 2010.
“It is no secret that coalition partners have different views on migration policy. Today, unfortunately, we have to state that these differences are irreconcilable. That is why I offered the king the resignation of the entire cabinet”, Rutte said.
Many refugees continue to arrive in the Netherlands, so the country struggles to accept more of them. The Netherlands has one of the strictest anti-immigration laws in the European Union.
So for a long time, the coalition in the Netherlands has been negotiating a solution to the migration crisis. Rutte’s party, the VVD, proposed a two-tiered system.
It stipulated that people under the threat of persecution in their home country would have more rights to asylum than those fleeing from a war zone. This applies to the time spent in the Netherlands and the right to family reunification.
However, the smallest party in the coalition, the liberal Christian Union, opposed the VVD’s idea. Therefore, Rutte gave an ultimatum: either the government reaches an agreement on migration before the summer recess, or his party leaves the coalition.
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The VVD tightened the stance and asked for measures to limit family reunification for refugees fleeing war in their own country. The Christian Union didn’t accept that. Migration measures were discussed for months, and all kinds of compromises were negotiated, but still, none of them worked.
Since no agreement was reached, the prime minister announced his resignation.
Read also: EU leaders harshen stance on migrant crisis but show division over fencing
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