ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — A dispute over the fate of 60 Algerians that France hopes to deport has deepened a rupture between the countries that has approached a historic low over the past year.
Algeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday rejected a French list of Algerians “with a dangerous profile” set for deportation. It said the list from France’s Interior Ministry bypassed traditional diplomatic channels for such expulsions and denied the Algerians their rightful trials.
The ministry statement rejected “threats and intimidation attempts, as well as injunctions, ultimatums, and any coercive language.”
France’s right-wing Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who had previously threatened that France could terminate decades-old immigration and visa accords, on Tuesday pledged to retaliate in a post on X.
The list in question is the first time that France has publicly discussed compiling and transmitting names of those slated for expulsion. The names are a fraction of the Algerians that French authorities have previously said they’ve designated for deportation.
As conservative forces have risen in France in recent months, officials including Retailleau have pushed for stricter immigration controls, and the government has intensified its efforts to expel Algerians.
Data submitted to France’s parliament last year showed less than 10% of French expulsion orders lead to actual deportations.
The Algerians set to be deported include a 37-year-old suspect sentenced to life for his role in an eastern France stabbing attack last month, and a trio of TikTok influencers found guilty of inciting violence against Jews, Morocco or opponents of Algeria’s government.
With economic difficulties and political dissatisfaction mounting in Algeria, the country’s officials have leaned into disagreements with former colonizer France.
Algerian officials have maintained that their country’s refusal to accept the deportees from France is related to concerns about due process.
Despite lingering tensions since Algeria wrested independence from France in a bloody war more than 60 years ago, the countries have cooperated on issues such as security, migration and trade.
But relations have deteriorated under French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
Macron has accused Algeria’s military-led government of using “hatred of France” as a central governing principle. Last year Macron enraged Algeria by shifting France’s position to back Morocco’s plan for the disputed Western Sahara, offering the disputed territory limited autonomy rather than independence or the referendum on self-determination that Algeria and the pro-independence Polisario Front have long demanded.
France’s shift in position sent relations between Paris and Algiers into a downward spiral and in the nearly eight months since the barbs traded between the two countries have encompassed a range of subjects including trade restrictions, the treatment of imprisoned French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal and historic grievances, including about the legacy of France’s nuclear program in Algeria.
French politicians — including conservatives who joined Macron’s government last year — have accused Algeria of trying to “humiliate” France and threatened to revoke the special status that Algerians who wish to emigrate or work in France have enjoyed. This week, they called to recall France’s ambassador in Algiers and terminate visas for Algerian diplomats.
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