The climate is still very tense between Paris and Algiers. Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday evening accused French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin of “a big lie” about the number of illegal Algerian immigrants to be returned from France.
“There have never been 7,000 (Algerians to be expelled). France spoke with us more than 94 (Algerians). There have never been 7,000, ”he declared, in an interview with several Algerian media. He further stressed that France should not treat Algeria like Tunisia and Morocco, in its decision to drastically reduce the number of visas granted to nationals of these countries.
The specific visa regime for Algerians
“The reduction of visas is a question which falls under the sovereignty of all States, including Algeria, on condition that it respects the Evian agreements and the agreements of 1968 which dictate certain measures”, argued the Algerian president. Under these agreements, Algerians benefit from a specific regime which facilitates their entry into France, grants them freedom of establishment as a trader or self-employed person and faster access to residence permits valid for 10 years. “Do not mix us with other countries (…). Algeria is a special country ”for France, added Abdelmadjid Tebboune, repeating:“ There are agreements that bind us ”.
During the interview, the president therefore detailed the expulsion requests presented by Paris. “The list that reached us in 2020 and the three lists in 2021 counted 94 cases among which 21 were accepted and 16 others rejected”, assured President Tebboune. “They are not going to return (to Algeria) because they are linked to terrorism. They came from Syria (…) There are binationals who have no family here ”.
The “populism” of “Moussa Darmanin”
“Moussa Darmanin has built a big lie”, accused the president, addressed to the French Minister of the Interior, of whom Moussa is the middle name given in homage to his grandfather, an Algerian rifleman of the Second World War. “These things cannot be settled through the press,” he added, adding: “I am not going to speak in a newspaper for populism and the electoral campaign”.
France announced on September 28 a reduction of visas by half for Algeria and Morocco and by a third for Tunisia, citing as the reason the “refusal” of these countries to issue the consular passes necessary for the return of immigrants returned from France. Algiers reacted the next day by summoning French Ambassador François Gouyette to notify him of a “formal protest from the Algerian government following a unilateral decision by the French government affecting the quality and fluidity of traffic”.