The French Office for Integration and Immigration has revealed that the Algerian state is preventing the voluntary return of 252 illegal immigrants, due to the closure of borders due to Covid-19.
The French immigration authorities accuse the Algerian state of blocking the return to Algeria of 252 compatriots in an irregular situation on French territory.
According to an AFP dispatch last Tuesday, these undocumented migrants recently approached the French Office for Integration and Immigration (OFII) to benefit from a “voluntary return” mechanism which commits them not to plus return to France, in return for assistance to return to their country definitively, which includes a sum of money (650 euros per individual), a free plane ticket and possibly financial assistance for reintegration.
“The problem is that these Algerians who want to return and request voluntary return are prevented from returning home by Algeria, which refuses to take them back from us. It is the only country with which we have problems ”, indicated Didier Leschi, Director General of OFII, specifying that his services“ cannot manage to have contacts for voluntary returns ”.
The OFII official goes on to add that the people concerned are on average 36 years old and want to “return at all costs to see their families again, after more than a year of closure of Algerian borders due to the pandemic”.
He also indicated that the undocumented migrants are “in the misunderstanding, in the aggressiveness”, because they think that it is the French State which is blocking their return. Apart from the number and the average age of the people who requested a voluntary return to Algeria, no other details were given by the OFII on their profile.
The announcement concerning them comes, however, a week after the publication of a report accusing the French immigration authorities of promoting the abusive detention of illegal aliens, despite the reduced possibilities of deportation, because of the epidemiological context.
This report, drawn up by five migrant assistance associations (Cimade, France Terre d’Asile, Groupe SOS Solidarité, Forum Réfugiés-COSI, and Assfam), reveals that 27,000 foreigners were placed in administrative detention centers and premises. in 2020, a quarter of whom are released from prison.
Of all the people selected, 1,916 are Algerians and 970 are affected by measures to remove them from the territory. But 0.5 were deported to Algeria. The highest number of refoulements was 26 in January and 1 in June. In total, Algeria accepted the return of around 100 of its nationals last year.
The drastic decrease in expulsions in Algeria due to the closure of the borders has resulted in the lengthening of detention periods.
In their report, NGOs supporting migrants denounced this situation which, according to them, has resulted in “infringements and restrictions on rights by the administration”.
Last April, Algerian undocumented migrants observed a hunger strike in an administrative detention center in Bordeaux (South West) to demand the end of their detention.
More recently, another compatriot set fire to a newspaper distributor in Versailles, near Paris, to cause his expulsion. Apart from the health context, expulsions from France to Algeria remain very difficult.
In a meeting, last May, French President Emmanuel Macron called on the Ministers of the Interior, Foreign Affairs and Justice “to step up negotiations with the countries of origin so that they are more accepting of their nationals. ”
This issue featured prominently in the talks that the Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, had with Algerian officials during his trip to Algeria in November 2020. But, obviously, the results are still pending.
