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Rabat – French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin has called on his government to recall France’s ambassador to Algeria amid the regime’s reluctance to receive back its nationals subject to deportation orders from the European country.
French news agency AFP said the justice minister also seeks the revocation of diplomatic passports for some Algerian dignitaries.
“We must recall our ambassador and put an end to diplomatic passports, which give the right to come to France for medical treatment or shopping,” the minister said in an interview with TF1.
France’s measures could also impact the 1968 agreements with Algeria if the country “does not play along by taking back its nationals,” Darmanin added.
The agreement signed between the two countries in 1968 replaced the 1962 Evian Peace Accords. It initially limited immigration to 35,000 Algerians per year and facilitated the residence card process for Algerians with proof of employment, as well as family reunification.
Throughout the years, the agreement has been undergoing revisions, with the quota system now replaced with a visa system.
“Let’s wait for Algeria’s response,” Darmanin said, recommending dialogue with Algeria during these “very regrettable moments of tension.”
“We need to make the countries of origin – Algeria must understand this – understand that they must take back the nationals we no longer want on our territory,” he concluded.
Algeria and France have been facing brewing tensions in the past few years, but France’s decision to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over its southern provinces further struck a nerve among the Algerian regime – which finances, arms, hosts, and supports the Polisario Front.
The separatist group takes Algeria’s controlled Tindouf camps as a shelter and challenges Morocco’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over its southern provinces in the Western Sahara.
In July, France joined an international trend in backing Morocco’s position, with the country determined to continue boosting bilateral ties and defending the Moroccan stance at international forums.
The decision has been met by Algeria’s regime frustration and the recall of its ambassador to Paris in a protest of the newfound position in favor of Morocco’s territorial integrity.
