French properties in Algeria were not spoiled like in Morocco: French Foreign Minister reveals
A question has remained unanswered till now concerns the request of the French citizens born in Algeria during the colonial period commonly known “Pieds Noirs†( black feet) or the collaborators known as “ Harkis†who didn’t stop to claim their right to retrieve the properties they left behind at the independence of Algeria and nationalized by the government.
- But we have found the answer at last in a thorough file forwarded to us by a judicial source close to the case since 20 years.
- The document sheds light on numerous requests expressed by the colonizers who left the country at the independence of Algeria or those who decided stay longer. The requests surfaced during the political and economic negotiations held between the officials of the two countries in the 1980s, when the socialists, led by François Mitterand, came to power at the time.
- The French president made his best endeavour to temper the then- strained relationships between the two countries in the wake of the decision taken by the late Houari Boumedienne to nationalize hydrocarbons in the 1970s.
- Several correspondences were sent to the different French foreign and finance ministers since mid 1980s reveal that the French citizens were pressuring the French authorities to convince the then-Algerian president Chadli Ben Djeddid to stop implementing the 1963 law concerning the vacant properties.
- They were demanding legal facilities to enable those who were still living in Algeria to liquidate and sell their properties and transfer their money from the Algerian bank in hard currency.
- The French authorities have succeeded to convince the Algerian president who issued a decree in November 29, 1980 repealing the law issued in 1963. The move has enabled some 3000 “pieds noirs” to sell their real estate properties as from March 1981, a French official document reveals.
- The Algerian move was regarded as a strong signal towards the improvement of the relationships between the two countries.
- But another agreement was sealed between the two countries in April 1987 , regarded as a breakthrough by the French minister of economy Edouard Balladur , although not mentioned by the Algerian officials and was considered as turning point in the French -Algerian relationships. Answering to a correspondence sent by a French senator, the minister has revealed some provisions included in the agreement which was sealed during the most glorious period between the two nations since the independence.