Dutch Government in Turmoil: Immigration Policies Bring Down the Coalition

Who is Mark Rutte?

After Hungary's Viktor Orban, Mark Rutte, age 56, the Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs of the Netherlands, has served as a government leader for the Netherlands the longest. Since becoming prime minister in October 2010, Rutte has served in four successive administrations, the most recent of which took office in January 2022.

What happened?

The Dutch Government, under The Dutch Prime Minister Mr. Mark Rutte, included his party, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, Democrats 66 (D66), Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), and the Christian Union.

This government of coalition collapsed on Friday after failing to reach a deal on immigration inflow into the country. This crisis was triggered by Mr. Rutte’s party’s push to limit the flow of asylum seekers to the Netherlands, which two parties in the coalition refused to extend their support. Mr. Rutte proposed to limit the entrance of children of war refugees who were already in the country, and a minimum waiting time of 2 years for the munition of those families. 

The Netherlands, already having immensely tough immigration policies compared to the rest of Europe, with the push from Mr. Rutte was on the path to further reduce the inflow of asylum seekers. Mr. Rutte tried to force through a plan which had a cap on the number of relatives of refugees who were allowed into the country, at just 200 people per month. This meant only 2400 refugees out of the now estimated 70,000 would be approved entry into the country per year. This step against immigrants was thought ‘too much’ by the Christian Union and D66.

The resignation of the Dutch Cabinet resulted in the country having a caretaker government until a new election takes place, and a new administration is formed. The national election committee says, that this would in the fractured Dutch political Landscape be nowhere before mid-November.

As for this division in government, Mr. Rutte advises that this would mean no change in the country’s support for Ukraine. (Read the article ‘European Economy: Russia-Ukraine War’)

Asylum applications in the Netherlands jumped by a third to 47,991 last year, and the government has projected they could increase to more than 70,000 by the end of 2023 - topping the previous high of 2015, with most applicants coming from Syria, according to the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The Dutch Foreign Minister, leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal, Mr. Wopke Hoekstra, supporting the Prime Minister’s Proposal, said that the country had to “get a grip on migration,” “The carrying capacity of our small, densely populated country is under pressure. People too often find themselves competing for housing, healthcare, and education.”

The Collapse of the Government:

Mr. Rutte reflected that the coalition had “lost its political foundation” after the failure of negotiations. “That is extremely regrettable and at the same time a political reality we cannot avoid,” he mentioned.

 "The decision was very difficult for us," Mr. Rutte told journalists as he announced his cabinet's resignation, late on Friday night. The differences in views between the coalition partners were "irreconcilable", he added. ”All parties went to great lengths to find a solution, but the differences on migration are unfortunately impossible to bridge,” he said.

A compromise proposal, known as the "emergency brake", which would only trigger the restrictions in the event of an excessively high influx of migrants, was not enough to save the government.]

"The four parties decided that they cannot reach an agreement on migration," the Christian Union's spokesman Tim Kuijsten said. "Therefore they decided to end this government.” Hence leading to the collapse of the Dutch Government.

Please note that this article has been thoroughly researched, and information has been taken from credible sources, government websites, credible statistic data, and news organizations such as The New York Times, Reuters, BBC & CNN. To read all the proper details of this coalition collapse, the website of the Government of the Netherlands can be visited.