As relations between France and Morocco improve, Paris finds itself increasingly at odds with Algiers over perceptions that the French authorities have been applying the so-called OQTF provision under which foreign nationals can be obliged to leave French territory in a manner that discriminates against Algerians.
On Monday, France’s Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau met in Rabat with his opposite number, Morocco’s Interior Minister Abdelouafi Lafit, for talks about migration cooperation, the drive against organised crime and drug trafficking. Leery that Algeria could be exploiting the presence of Algerian illegal immigrants in France as a means of undermining French/Moroccan joint interests, Abdelouafi Laftit has proposed that he and Retailleau work together to expedite the identification of illegal immigrants under the OQTF provision and speed their return to their country of origin.
His proposal comes following claims that illegal Algerian immigrants subject to QOTF notice have been responsible for crimes or offences ostensibly carried out in support of nationalist causes associated with Moroccan interests and that this has been at the behest of the Algerian regime bent on undermining relations between France and Morocco, when in fact the acts have no connection with Morocco. One target is the current rapport between Paris and Rabat over Morocco’s disputed claims to Western Sahara.
Retailleau’s Rabat visit is seen as a way of “consolidating progress” between the two countries. Of special concern is the matter of “consular passes” issued, key to determining how many illegal migrants are returned to their country of origin. Given the surge in right-wing anti-immigration sentiment, the issue is a major preoccupation in the prevailing French political landscape.
Paris had in fact halved the number of visas granted to Moroccans in 2021-2022 in a move aimed at encouraging the kingdom to take back more of its nationals expelled by the French authorities. However, much relations between Paris and Rabat have improved. Ties with Algeria have deteriorated to the point where the Algerian regime has been critical of the French government in recent days for the arrest and indictment of three Algerian nationals, including a consular officer.
