Algeria stops France’s ability to deport Algerian illegal migrants
Algeria has terminated France’s ability to deport illegal migrants without a passport back to Algeria in a move likely to provoke Paris.
Reported by Middle East Monitor on March 13th, Algeria has closed its consulates in France’s southern municipalities with the largest Algerian populations.
French authorities need the consulate to issue a ‘pass’ to Algerian citizens illegally living in France in order to verify their identity and provide consent for their deportation back to Algeria.
This move marks, yet another, deterioration in relations between Algeria and France who appear to be engaging in tit-for-tat diplomacy. Following French President Macron’s renewal of support for Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara, a claim strongly rejected by Algiers, relations between the former colony and its colonial power have been remarkably frosty.
Western Sahara is currently under de facto control by Rabat, Morocco, but the Algerian-backed Sahrawi separatists of the Polisario Front declare the right to national self-determination.
Maghrebi has also previously reported on the scale of arrests in France of Algerian social media influencers, arrested following accusations of incitement to violence on French territory. One influencer, Rafik M, had “called on Tiktok for the carrying out of violent acts on French territory,” according to Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau.
This was followed by accusations by the French government that it is “clear that Algeria is trying to humiliate France,” after an influencer was put on a flight to Algiers but, upon arrival, Algerian authorities refused to admit him. He was then sent back to France. Since, Algeria have continued to refuse entry to Algerian citizens deported by France, leaving Retaillau “astonished.”
The two powers have publicly named and shamed each other but as Paris becomes more aligned to neighboring Morocco, Algeria seems to be suffering from increased isolation as they continue to challenge France.
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