Will the diplomatic row between Paris and Algiers put a strain on deportations of undocumented nationals? The question has been raised ever since Algeria decided on July 30 to withdraw its ambassador to France with immediate effect. The break in bilateral relations comes after French President Emmanuel Macron sent a letter to Moroccan King Mohammed VI, on the anniversary of his coronation, in which he said that "the present and the future of Western Sahara fall within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty."
A former Spanish colony, Western Sahara is controlled for the most part by Morocco but is claimed by the Sahrawi independence fighters of the Polisario Front, who are calling for a referendum on self-determination. The UN considers it a "non-self-governing territory."
The French government took action "without clearly measuring all the potential repercussions" and "tramples on the international legality," declared the Algerian Foreign Ministry in a July 30 press release. The first of these consequences could be a halt to the expulsion of undocumented Algerians. On condition of anonymity, a police source admitted that "the Algerian government is currently dragging its feet in issuing consular travel documents."
A frequently used means of pressure
Consular travel documents are required to return a foreign national to their country of origin if they do not have a passport. To obtain them, the country of origin must recognize the foreigner as one of its nationals and issue the pass. An indispensable tool, it's also a frequently used means of diplomatic pressure.
In 2021, the French government announced a freeze on visas to North African countries due to the low number of consular travel documents issued by these nations. That diplomatic row lasted a year. Could it be resumed today? Less than two weeks after provoking the ire of Algiers, the situation in the 20 or so administrative detention centers (CRA) is still difficult to ascertain.
The Forum Réfugiés organization operates in seven CRAs, where it provides legal and social assistance to detainees, and has observed, for example, that "the Algerian consulate has not visited the Nice center for the past two weeks," pointed out Assane Ndaw, the association's deputy director. In all, Forum Réfugiés has recorded seven deportations of Algerians since July 30, from the other CRAs where it has a presence.
"It's still a little early to make an analysis, but we're not seeing a total halt to deportations," warned Claire Bloch of Cimade, which works in five CRAs in mainland France. "In Toulouse, for example, no consular travel documents have been issued since July 30, and flights have been canceled. There is even an Algerian who had a valid identity card but was turned away on arrival in Oran. Similarly, on August 7, a charter flight from Le Bourget [north of Paris] did not take off again after a stopover in Marseille. On the other hand, since July 30, there have been eight expulsions of Algerians held at the Mesnil-Amelot detention center in Seine-et-Marne. Some of them held passports and others had been issued with a travel document before diplomatic relations were broken off."
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