Macron’s Government Approves Harsh Measures Against 300,000 Algerian Retirees

What can be described as French “harassment and provocation” towards Algeria has returned, using some sensitive files in a way that makes the observer of Algerian-French relations feel that abnormal matters are being moved under the table in order to push for interests that are believed to be unresolved.
And after the statements and media “editions” attacking Algerian-French relations were limited to retired diplomats and right-wing opposition politicians, this time the infection has moved to the official level with the exit of the French government’s Minister of Public Accounts, Gabriel Atal, to speak of illegal and inhumane measures by the French government against 300,000 Algerian pensioners, in blatant  violation of the provisions of the 1968 agreement.
And in the latest decision taken by the French government led by Elizabeth Borne, which will have its consequences, it has been decided to stop paying social benefits into bank accounts outside the European Union from the 1st of July next, according to what the Minister Delegate for Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal, said in an interview with the newspaper Le Parisien.
This measure is part of the plan to combat social fraud launched by the social authorities and is aimed at the category of pensioners, particularly those living outside the European Union, who number around half a million pensioners, more than half of whom (around 300,000) live in Algeria alone.
Another procedure will also be launched, starting on the first of January 2024, which will increase the penalty for manipulators by 10%, in order to take care of the burdens of studying the file, on the grounds that the French will not bear these additional expenses, according to Gabriel Atal, who spoke of a ten-year project aimed at achieving double the results in 2022 and creating a thousand additional jobs over the next five years.
From the figures provided by the French official, it is clear that the Algerians will be most affected by the fact that they make up more than half of those affected by these “unjust” decisions, which require them to open bank accounts in France in order to receive social benefits that are not even sufficient to pay for the plane ticket to move there. This is in addition to the cost of housing and food for very old people (the absolute majority of whom are over seventy).
According to the French official, the justification that led his country’s government to take such a decision is that the funds wasted under the heading of fraudulent social allowances amounted to between 6 and 8 billion euros annually, which is the justification that remains illegal, in addition to being inhumane and considered They jumped on the 1968 agreement signed between Algeria and France, which regulates the movement of people between the two countries and protects their legally guaranteed rights.
The real aim of these decisions is to force beneficiaries of the pension and social assistance system to reside in France for at least nine months instead of six in order to benefit from family allowances or the minimum age limit, as confirmed by the French official, who said that the government is also seeking to integrate the “Vital” social security card and the biometric identity card in order to reduce the incidence of social fraud.
The French authorities claim that fraud has been perpetrated in Algeria to obtain unjustified privileges under the guise of receiving social benefits, based on an investigation carried out last September which uncovered 300 cases out of 1,000 files examined.
The French minister’s departure comes at a time when doubts are clouding Algerian-French relations due to tendentious and racist statements by French politicians and diplomats calling on the French government to reconsider the 1968 agreement, which grants Algerians privileges in terms of movement, work, study and the exercise of free professions in France, unlike the other nationals of the countries. The other Maghreb is the campaign led by the French right and extreme right to influence the policies of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who wants to establish equal relations with Algeria.