France imposes visa restrictions on Algeria’s nomenklatura

France announced visa restrictions targeting Algerian “dignitaries” at a context of worsening bilateral relations, as Algeria continues to reject individuals ordered to leave France.

A showdown went on for months between Algeria and France, since Paris declared its full support for Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara.

Algeria has weaponized migration and rejected to take its own nationals sent by France for violating laws. So far Algeria has rejected three nationals who did not require consular passes.

But the straw that broke the camel’s back was Mulhouse attack, when an Algerian national who was rejected by his country ten times attacked ordinary people using a knife, killing one and injuring several others. The attack irked the French political class which urged the Government to take action against Algeria’s “blackmail.”

Politicians and members of parliament had earlier urged their government to stop offering visas to Algerian nationals until Algeria takes its unwanted nationals in France.

“Measures to restrict the movement and access to national territory for certain Algerian dignitaries have been taken” French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot told reporters.

“These are reversible measures that will be lifted as soon as the cooperation we are calling for resumes,” he added, on the eve of an inter-ministerial meeting on immigration control amid a major diplomatic crisis with Algiers.

The measure was meant “to defend the interests of France” he said, urging Algeria to readmit its citizens living irregularly in France.

French interior minister Bruno Routailleux waved other sanctions that would go as far as annulling the 1968 deals which granted Algerians a preferential treatment in entering and settling in France. Under the same agreement, holders of Algerian passports can access the French territory and Schengen space without visa, leading to a proliferation of diplomatic passports among the Algerian nomenklatura.