France prepares to deport hundreds of Algerians
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on March 3rd that his team is creating a list of hundreds of people deemed “dangerous” to present to Algerian authorities in preparation for them being deported, according to the Middle East Monitor.
The deportation debate gained momentum following a knife attack in France, with a 37-year-old Algerian citizen identified as the alleged perpetrator. French authorities have claimed that Algeria has refused to accept the perpetrator’s return, despite 14 attempts to deport him.
In conversation with the French news channel BFM TV, Retailleau said the people on the list would present a threat “because they have disrupted public order or are listed in our records as extremists on terrorism charges.”
Retailleau also said he “hopes this will serve as a reality test with Algeria.” He added: “What I want, once again, to protect the French people, is for Algeria to take back its nationals as required by international law.”
Anadolu Agency reported that following an interministerial meeting, French Prime Minister François Bayrou announced that France was urging Algeria to reconsider the agreements made in 1968 between the two countries.
Retailleau has also asserted that “without a balance of power” France will gain “nothing from Algeria.” He emphasized the requirement in the 1994 agreement that an “Algerian national must be accepted by Algeria.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot revealed that France has implemented measures to restrict movement and access to the country. Barrot said these measures apply “[to] certain Algerian dignitaries.”
In 2023, a French-Algerian activist was sentenced to ten years in prison for leaving Algeria without gaining permission from the authorities.
Anadolu Agency, Middle East Monitor, Politico
