The Dutch cabinet has collapsed after the coalition parties were unable to agree a deal to limit asylum seeker numbers, Dutch media reported Friday.

Ministers have been holding talks for weeks to try to find ways of reducing pressure on the asylum system, but prime minister Mark Rutte, raised the stakes this week when he threatened to pull his VVD party out of the four-party coalition government on the issue unless a deal was reached before the summer recess, Dutch news nl website reported.

The VVD wanted to create a two-tier system for asylum seekers, with people under threat of persecution granted more rights than those fleeing war zones.

It also said the number of family members who could join refugees in the second category should be capped at 200 per year.

But the party ran into opposition on the last point from the ChristenUnie, the smallest member of the four-way coalition, which was unwilling to break up families.

Source: Kuwait News Agency