Rabat – For almost a year France has applied its September 2021 decision to drastically cut the number of visas granted for Morocco and Algeria by 50%, and for Tunisia by 30%.
Former French government Spokesperson Gabriel Attal said that the decision came as the result of a lack of cooperation from Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia to repatriate citizens who remain in France without legal documentation.
France’s decision created a wave of indignation among Moroccans, for whom French visas were already commonly denied, seeing this decision as collective unfair punishment.
Tuesday, in an interview with French-language Moroccan weekly news magazine Tel Quel, the French embassy in Morocco said that “There is no arbitrary decision in the visa processing.”
The French embassy in Morocco said that they are now using a very strict use of the Community Code on Visas, common to the European Union, and requiring a perfectly “complete” application with all the required documents.
The embassy added that their consular services give particular attention to Moroccan students planning to pursue their studies in France.
“One of the priorities of the French consul services in Morocco is to allow Moroccan students, with an approved project, to start their academic year without any difficulties,” the French embassy in Rabat told Tel Quel.
The embassy also said that refunding applicants whose visas were rejected, as recently requested by Morocco’s National Federation of Consumer Rights (FMDC), couldn’t happen because Article 16 of the Community Code on Visas stipulates that visa fees are not refundable.
The French embassy said that they hope cooperation between France and Morocco would allow the two countries to again repatriate Moroccans residing in France illegally at the level seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.
France’s immigration legislation stipulates that prefects can deport foreigners living illegally in France. It requires them to leave the country, at their own expense, within 30 days. For people without a passport however, Morocco needs to issue a consular pass for the individual in question to be returned to their original country.
Between January and July 2021, 3,301 Moroccans received a notice demanding they leave French territory, while 138 consular passes were issued by Morocco. For Algerians, 7,731 received a deportation notice, while Algeria issued 31 consular passes.
Visa restrictions on North African people
The French Senate expressed in May its support for a drastic reduction of French visas issued to citizens of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.
The Senate claimed that Morocco is still issuing consular passes on an “occasional” basis.
The French legislative body added that the Kingdom refuses to organize grouped flights to collect Moroccan citizens remaining illegally in France, which requires them to be fully vaccinated to be able to return.
According to figures used by the Senate, 867 repatriations to Morocco were executed in 2019, which fell to 170 in 2021.
The Senate even suggested that it would welcome an EU-wide decision to reduce the number of visas issued to states in the Maghreb.
The French Senate took Tunisia as a successful example of the French “visa strategy.”
“The example of Tunisia, which recently accepted group flights and lowered their sanitary expectations to one certificate testifying the absence of COVID-19 symptoms, is speaking on the matter,” notes the Senate report.
Sanitary constraints play a key role in the diplomatic crisis.
The French Border Police wrote in the Senate report that Maghrebi states should ask their involuntary returnees to do a PCR test, and quarantine them once returned to their country of origin.
Morocco and Algeria require a PCR test or a certification of full vaccination for deported citizens.
Long-term impact on Rabat-Paris relationship
Tahar Ben Jaloun, a recognized Moroccan writer, wrote in the French newspaper Le Point on Monday that the French government doesn’t realize the impact of the government decisions on the historically privileged relationship between Paris and Rabat.
“Apparently, neither President Emmanuel Macron nor his Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, is aware of the deterioration of relations between France and Morocco,” Ben Jaloun wrote.
France is becoming less attractive to Moroccans, and demands for French visas fell below numbers seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before the pandemic hit, 346,000 French visas were issued to Moroccans after 420,000 visa requests in 2019, with only 18% of requests rejected.
Between January 1 and July 2021, 24,191 Moroccans requested French visas and 18,579 were accepted with 23% of requests rejected.
Even if sanitary restrictions are still reducing demand for French visas, the difference between the 2019 and 2021 numbers remains significant.
“Morocco is not focused on France anymore,” wrote Ben Jaloun.
Although Moroccan students represent the largest part of international students in France, with 44,933 students for the 2020-2021 academic year, Moroccan international students are now diversifying their destinations.
Their number increased in Germany by 54% in the 2020-2021 winter semester, with a total of 6,195 Moroccan students.
If the French government still believes that their diplomatic visa strategy will pay off, the question remains how deeply it will impact diplomatic relations between Morocco and France.
