The four parties were split in crisis talks chaired by Mr Rutte on Friday.
Mr Rutte then met King Willem-Alexander in The Hague on Saturday and agreed to lead a caretaker government until fresh elections, expected in mid-November.
Coalition partners had objected to his proposal to restrict the scope for immigrant families to reunite.
The government was set up a year and a half ago but the parties have been opposed on migration for some time.
Mr Rutte gave no details of his talks with the king, which lasted about an hour and a half. "It was a good discussion, but I'm not saying anything else because these discussions are confidential," he told reporters.
His conservative VVD party had been trying to limit the flow of asylum seekers, following a row last year about overcrowded migration centres. His plans were opposed by his junior coalition partners.
Asylum applications in the Netherlands jumped by over a third last year to more than 47,000 and government figures said earlier this year that they expected roughly 70,000 applications in 2023.
This week, Mr Rutte tried to force through a plan which included a cap on the number of relatives of war refugees allowed into the Netherlands at just 200 people per month.
But junior coalition partners the Christian Union, a pro-family party, and the socially-liberal D66 were strongly opposed.
Source: www.bbc.com
No comments:
Post a Comment