Systematic Campaign Against Algerian Migrants on French Soil

Official statements of the French Interior Ministry showed a systematic campaign aimed at harassing Algerian immigrants on French territory, in a way that refutes the claims of personalities and political formations on every occasion that Algerians enjoy many privileges under the 1968 immigration agreement between the two countries.

A response from the French Interior Ministry to a written questioning of the National Assembly dated June 13, 2023, directed by the MP Alexandre Sabatou, of the far-right National Rally (formerly the National Front of its leader Marine Le Pen), seen by Echorouk, read that during the period from January to September 2022 and compared to the same period in 2021, the arrests of Algerian nationals increased by 33%, affecting 24,269 people.

According to the same data, the arrests of Algerian nationals in the same period of 2021 were 18,274 people.

Further, the figures of the French Interior Ministry show the massive campaign of harassing Algerian immigrants on its territory through a remarkable increase of the obligation to leave French soil (OQTF), as it increased by 50% in 2022, to reach 15,768 cases, compared to 10,489 in 2021.

According to the Paris Interior Ministry, 2,241 Algerians who were arrested were concerned with the French OQTF and deportation to their country in 2022, compared to 823 in 2021.

Data from the French Interior Ministry refuted what French politicians and officials had been saying for years regarding the issuance of consular licenses by the Algerian diplomatic representations requested by the provinces, and their repeated talk about the lack of cooperation in this field.

The same data indicates that the number of consular permits increased by 69% in 2022 compared to 2021, reaching 2,756, up from 1,629 permits, while forced deportations to Algeria increased by 1,689 people, reaching 483 forcible deportations in 2022 compared to 27 in 2021.