Government spokesman Gabriel Attal announced on Tuesday that France would toughen the conditions for obtaining visas for nationals from Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, three countries which “hamper efficiency effective deportations” to the border of immigrants turned back from France.
Paris has decided to tighten the conditions for obtaining visas with regard to Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, which “refuse” to issue the consular passes necessary for the return of immigrants returned from France, announced, Tuesday, September 28, government spokesman Gabriel Attal.
“It is a drastic decision, it is an unprecedented decision, but it is a decision made necessary by the fact that these countries do not accept to take back nationals that we do not want and cannot keep in France”, he declared on Europe 1. He thus confirmed information from the radio which evoked a future drop of 50% in the number of visas issued for nationals of Morocco and Algeria and of 33% for those from Tunisia.
The attitude of these countries “slows down the effectiveness of effective escapes” at the border once the obligations to leave French territory (OQTF) have been issued, he lamented.
“There was a dialogue, then there were threats; today we are putting this threat into action,” said Gabriel Attal.
Underlining the visits on this subject in these three countries of the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, and members of the government, including the Minister of the Interior, as well as the meetings with the ambassadors of the countries concerned, he estimated that “at a when things are not moving, we enforce the rules”.
Asked about the duration of application of this measure, temporary or permanent, the spokesperson for the French government indicated that it had been “decided a few weeks ago” and “will be implemented” to “push the countries concerned to change policy and agree to issue these consular passes”.
“We would like the reaction to be more cooperation with France so that we can enforce our migration rules,” insisted Gabriel Attal.
Reacting to this announcement on France Inter, the interim president of the National Gathering, Jordan Bardella, affirmed that “we will judge the result”, deploring that Emmanuel Macron did not succeed, as promised according to him in the campaign in 2017 to “100% execution of OQTF [order to leave French territory, editor’s note]”. The RN presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, is due to present her draft referendum on immigration on Tuesday afternoon.
