AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The outgoing Dutch cabinet decided late on Wednesday to replace Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk to prevent a new crisis over immigration after parliament censured the minister, Dutch media reported.
Verdonk, who triggered an immigration row that led to the collapse of the government in June, will stay in the caretaker cabinet but swap jobs with Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin, Dutch news agency ANP said after a cabinet crisis meeting.
Dutch national television NOS said Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende will inform parliament about the decision on Thursday morning.
It came amid difficult negotiations to form a new ruling coalition after parliamentary elections last month produced no clear majority for either a centre-left or centre-right government.
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Some 76 opposition members of parliament, just enough for a majority in the 150-seat parliament, adopted a motion of distrust late on Tuesday against Verdonk because she refused to freeze the expulsion of rejected asylum seekers.
The new parliament had narrowly voted in favour of an amnesty for those who sought asylum in the Netherlands before April 2001. But Verdonk had said it could not be implemented, prompting the motion against her.
She has traditionally championed tough policies on immigration, including a decision in 2004 to deport 26,000 asylum seekers over a three-year period.
The vote for the amnesty was called by the opposition Labour party, overshadowing the coalition talks.
The caretaker cabinet of the Christian Democrats (CDA) and the free-market VVD party held the crisis meeting on Wednesday to discuss parliament’s motion against Verdonk who was under pressure to resign.
The CDA and the VVD have opposed the amnesty, arguing it would be unfair to those who have already had to leave the country and warning it could prompt a massive influx of new asylum seekers.
Many of the thousands of asylum seekers affected have been resident in the country for years appealing against expulsion.
Immigration has been a hot topic in the Netherlands since the rise and murder in 2002 of populist politician Pim Fortuyn, who said the country could not absorb any more foreigners.
