France suspends the renewal of thousands of Algerian citizens' residence permits for security reasons
The strained diplomatic relations between France and Algeria have entered a new chapter, with the Macron government freezing the residence permits of thousands of Algerian citizens
Diplomatic tensions between the governments of Emmanuel Macron and Abdelmadjid Tebboune of Algeria, which have worsened since the former publicly supported Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara, are entering a new chapter.
According to an exclusive report by the online publication Maghreb Intelligence, citing sources close to the French Ministry of the Interior headed by Bruno Retailleau, more than 23,000 Algerian citizens residing in France have seen their residence permits cancelled or frozen while the authorities investigate them.
The information adds that thousands of Algerian citizens have been waiting for over a year to renew their residence permits in various French departments. Among them are both holders of short-term residence permits, one year, and long-term, ten years.
Potential threats
The source indicates that the frozen permits are being subjected to intense investigations by the intelligence agencies, which are analysing the possible administrative, social, economic and political background of the Algerian citizens to determine if they constitute a threat to the security of France.
Resident Algerians who could be classified in any of the following groups are being subjected to these investigations:
- People directly or indirectly linked to the Algerian authorities and who could be involved in activities that could affect relations between the two countries.
- People who have been reported by the security forces for suspicious religious behaviour or extremism.
- People belonging to groups of anti-French activists who operate on the Internet.
- People who, despite receiving social benefits in France, frequently travel to Algeria, making them suspected of defrauding the public assistance system.
According to the information, these investigations were initiated in secret in 2023, so the number of people under investigation could increase considerably throughout 2025.
The French authorities have justified these measures as being necessary to avoid activities that disrupt public order, pose a threat to national cohesion or involve social security fraud.
The decision of the French authorities is going to further complicate diplomatic relations between the two countries, which are already affected not only by the support for Morocco and Western Sahara, but also by the confrontation between the two countries over immigration.
Migration crisis
It should be remembered that, according to data for 2023 from the French National Institute of Statistics (INSS), there are around 892,000 Algerian residents in the country. France is the main destination for Algerian migrants, accounting for more than 80%.
The French Ministry of the Interior is trying to put pressure on the Algerian government with this review of residence permits so that the Tebboune administration agrees to readmit Algerian citizens who have been issued with expulsion orders, such as the influencer Doualemn, a resident of Montpellier, expelled from France for publishing videos that incited hatred and murder.
In fact, the Minister of the Interior himself, Bruno Retailleau, has recently threatened to limit the number of short-term Schengen visas granted to Algerian citizens (274,000 in 2023), until Algeria agrees to readmit its citizens expelled from France.
Retailleau also put on the table the possibility of revising the bilateral agreement signed in 1968 that facilitated access to visas for Algerian citizens.