Africa-Press. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez confirmed that Paris has resumed the deportation of Algerians with irregular status, noting that the number has reached 140 since the beginning of the current year.
The organization “Simad,” which advocates for migrant rights, reported at the end of March that these deportation operations had resumed after being halted for nearly a year due to the diplomatic crisis between Paris and Algeria. However, the Interior Ministry had not yet announced any decision in this regard.
Nunez stated, “When I went to Algeria in mid-February, we had not issued any transit permits since the beginning of the year, and we had carried out a few deportation operations.” He added, “Since my visit to Algeria, everything has returned to normal.”
He continued, “120 transit permits have been issued since then, and yesterday we surpassed 140 deportation operations since the beginning of the year. There is no doubt that we need to do more,” adding, “We will continue this ongoing dialogue with Algeria.”
Relations between Paris and Algeria deteriorated starting in the summer of 2024, following France’s recognition of Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara, a region that has been in dispute for 50 years between Rabat and the Polisario Front.
