France will send the first list of deportees to Algeria

Relations between Paris and Algiers are going through a bad patch with diplomatic tensions, especially over Algeria's rejections on migration issues. In this context, the French Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, arranged a meeting with the French President, Emmanuel Macron, to inform him of the decision to send a letter to the Algerian authorities including a dozen Algerians residing in France who, for various reasons, are to be deported.

France's hope is that Abdelmadjid Tebboune's government will accept the list and interpret it as a gesture of goodwill towards reconciliation. However, Emmanuel Macron has insisted on several occasions that bilateral relations cannot be resumed. ‘Calm cannot be decreed unilaterally,’ he said.

After dozens of cases such as those of the influencers Doualemn, Zazou and Imadtintin; or the case of the Franco-Algerian writer Sansal Boualem last November, who is still imprisoned in Algiers, Bruno Retailleau pointed out that the initial idea of the French authorities was to draw up a list of hundreds of Algerians, although so far only a dozen Algerian residents have been included. ‘This is the first list, but we do not rule out that it will be neither the only one nor the last,’ he concluded.

In addition, the events that took place in the city of Mulhouse on 22 February, caused by an Algerian citizen under the Obligation to Leave French Territory (OQTF), ended up aggravating the situation. A source present at the meeting indicated that the list could be issued this week. 

Since Emmanuel Macron recognised the Moroccan Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara on 30 July 2024, bilateral relations have been severely strained. 

Since then, visits by French diplomats to the Saharan cities of Dakhla, Laayoune and Tarfaya have become commonplace and are seen, by both France and Morocco, as gestures of rapprochement and support for relations that are at their best. Similarly, gestures such as the inclusion of Western Sahara on maps as part of Moroccan territory have also contributed to the current situation. 

However, Emmanuel Macron has been concise regarding his desire for relations with Algeria, despite the ‘intoxications’ coming from the Algerian president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune in his last interview in the media L'Opinion. On the other hand, the Algerian press has interpreted Macron's words as a reassuring gesture, but when the Elysée was consulted about the possibility of a meeting between the two presidents, there was no response. 

In line with Macron, the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, reiterated France's desire to have healthy relations with the, by extension, largest country in Africa. ‘Of course France aspires to have good relations with Algeria, a neighbouring country with which we share many historical ties,’ the minister concluded.

France is concerned about the possible return of Algerian or Franco-Algerian jihadists from Syria. The situation is complex, since the situation in Algeria is not easy due to the fact that it borders to the south with countries that have suffered one in every five of the world's terrorist attacks in recent years.

For Macron it is important to maintain good relations with the North African country because the exchange of information in the field of intelligence and the fight against terrorism is one of the French leader's main concerns.