France says it will drastically cut the number of visas granted to people from Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, accusing the former French colonies of not doing enough to allow illegal immigrants to return. Macron has reportedly ordered the number of visa deliveries to Algeria and Morocco to be halved from 2020 levels, and by a third for Tunisia after diplomatic efforts with the three North African countries failed. France has been finding it increasingly difficult to send citizens from the three countries back there after they have a received an expulsion order. In effect, when a French court denies a person’s visa request, the authorities have to secure a special travel pass from his or her home country in order to forcibly expel them. Paris says Algiers, Rabat and Tunis are refusing to provide that. Interior ministry figures show that in the first six months of this year, French courts rejected 7,731 visa requests by Algeria, but failure to get the travel passes meant only 22 individuals were expelled from French territory. Concerning Morocco, 80 people were expelled (3,301 rejected visa requests) and for Tunisia 131 people were expelled (3,424 rejected visa requests). But Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita condemned the move as “unjustified”, saying his country had carefully dealt with migrant issues to find a balance between allowing freedom of movement while clamping down on illegal migration.
SOURCE: BBC