French Border Police Official Calls For Tightening Visa Procedures On Algerians

Central Manager of the French border police, Fernand Gontier, called for tougher procedures for granting Visas to Algerians, given the desperation of the country’s youth and their desire to move to France, which remains an attractive destination for them.

These demands came from a report of a hearing of the French Central Director of the French border police, Fernand Gontier, in the French Senate last week, which copy is available to Echorouk.

“Algeria is also worrying us”, the French border police official responded to inquiries by French senators about the influx of immigrants into this country.

“Algerian youth are living in despair and they want to leave their country, and France remains an attractive destination for these young Algerians”.

The French senator, Samia Ghali, intervenes and asked him a question about the granting of visas in Algeria, and explained that for some Algerians it is very difficult to obtain a visa, and for others, it is very easy to obtain a visa.

French border police officer, Fernand Gontieri told Samia Ghali that Algerians rank second in terms of nationalities, which are living illegally on the French soil.

“The French authorities are conducting more than 10,000 arrests and interrogations of Algerians in illegal positions on the country’s soil every year”, the official said.

“Many Algerians are coming to France with a visa, but they never leave France”, Fernand Gontier said, adding that the director-general of foreigners in France was personally in charge of the file.

The French border police official spoke about those who come to France via the ships and said that many Algerians were coming illegally to France via the ships, without giving further details.

According to the French official, a great deal of caution should be maintained regarding the granting of visas to Algerian nationals. Therefore, the Border Police has proposed training courses on the French consulates because it is very possible to obtain an actual legal visa through forged documents.

“In Algeria, there are clear fraud and counterfeiting operations. So tight checks must be imposed.”

Fernand Gontier, concluded his response to the questions concerning Algeria by referring to the minors’ file. He mentioned that the minor children from Algeria and Morocco are a matter of great concern to the French authorities, because the presence of a minor child exempts him/her from being in an illegal situation.

In this regard, the French official expressed his hope to launch a committee to help the border police to determine the exact age of minors, through tests on the bones of minors.