As Rutte said at the party convention, VVD Chairman and Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s personal commitment is “unwavering.” At the last VVD conference in November, he promised a significant drop in the influx of asylum seekers. So far, no such thing has happened, and critical members have run out of patience. Mr Rutte said he would have taken “irresponsible risks” if he had forced cabinet talks to develop a range of measures before the party’s convention on Saturday.
“It will have a negative impact on the stability of the Cabinet,” Rutte said. Stability is not sacred, VVD leader explained, “but results matter.”
Some ministers, including Rutte, have been discussing for months a range of measures to reduce the influx of asylum seekers. Rutte reiterated at the meeting that he hoped the four coalition parties would reach a deal by the summer. VVD and CDA support tougher measures, while D66 and ChristenUnie advocate humanitarian policies and legally defensible and enforceable measures.
Rutte was quizzed by some critical VVD members who wanted to know how much the Dutch prime minister’s promises were still worth and when the number of asylum seekers would actually drop. Sometimes the situation got rough, but Rutte reacted sharply to that.
VVD party leader Sophie Hermans, for example, called on Rutte to expedite a series of measures to limit the influx of asylum seekers. “Mark, hurry up.” She believes the Cabinet can only take leave if that package is available.
According to the prime minister, hard efforts are being made to stem the influx of asylum seekers, including in the situation in Europe. This year, the Cabinet expects 70,000 asylum seekers to arrive in the Netherlands.
https://nltimes.nl/2023/06/03/prime-minister-rutte-still-committed-reduce-influx-asylum-seekers Prime Minister Rutte still committed to reducing influx of asylum seekers