Dutch government to resign over asylum policy: reports

Requests for comment from Rutte's office went unanswered on Friday evening.

A push by Rutte's conservative VVD party to limit the flow of asylum seekers to the Netherlands split his four-party government coalition as two junior parties refused to support his proposals.

Tensions came to a head this week, when Rutte demanded support for a proposal to limit entrance for children of war refugees who are already in the Netherlands and to make families wait at least two years before they can be united.

Asylum applications in the Netherlands jumped by a third last year to more than 46,000, and the government has projected they can to increase to more than 70,000 this year - topping the previous high of 2015.