A meeting of more than two and a half hours organized in Matignon, with a dozen ministers present. The Interministerial Immigration Control Council (CICI), chaired this Wednesday, February 26 by François Bayrou, was initially announced in late January and then postponed. The news of the past few days has given him a particular tone: it took place against the backdrop of increasing tensions with Algeria. These were still revived by the Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin) attack, in which a 37-year-old Algerian, in an irregular situation and under an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), is accused of having killed a person on Saturday and of having injured seven others.
The Algerian question was at the heart of CICI’s discussions, while Paris tries to find answers against Algiers. The French government cannot “accept that the situation continues,” François Bayrou said to the press after the inter -ministerial committee. The Prime Minister announced that France wanted to “re -examine all the agreements” of 1968 between the two countries. “We have agreements that have been signed since 1968, which have been revised three times, and we must note that these agreements are not respected” by Algiers, deplored the head of government.
“We will check for four to six weeks if the two governments (Editor’s note: French and Algerians) are still determined to comply with these agreements in the future,” he said. If one of the two does not wish, then these agreements “will be called into question”, he warned, specifying that “France respects these agreements” and intends to continue on this path. “If there was no answer (Editor’s note: Algeria) at the end of the path, there is no doubt that it is the denunciation of agreements which would be the only possible outcome,” warned the head of government, nevertheless ensuring that “it is not the one we want”.
“No desire for climbing or overbidding”
François Bayrou announced that before the end of the period set by Paris, France was going to present to the Algerian government “an emergency list of people who must be able to return to their countries and which we consider particularly sensitive”. Without giving figures on the number of people concerned, the Prime Minister has mentioned “a substantial list”.
“It is the responsibility of the French government to say that the refusals of readmission (Algerian nationals) are a direct attack on the agreements that we have with the Algerian authorities and that we will not accept it,” also said François Bayrou. The Prime Minister said, however, that there is “no desire for climbing or overbidding” with Algeria.
Several tracks have been mentioned in recent weeks but they have divided the government between the supporters of the “balance of power”, like the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, and those who argue for the diplomatic path, such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot. The latter revealed Tuesday that “measures to restrict traffic and access to the national territory for certain Algerian dignitaries” had already been taken, specifying this Wednesday that they dated “a few weeks ago”, therefore before the attack. These measures aroused the “astonishment” of Algiers which denounced a new “provocation”.
“Generalization of the use of the border force”
François Bayrou also argued in favor of “strengthening the fight against illegal immigration”. “In 2024 we had half a million additional immigrants and nearly 160,000 asylum seekers, which means that the question of asylum demand is used and misguided as a means of crossing borders,” said the head of government. “France is a country whose tradition is asylum, provided that this asylum application is not misguided of its real purposes,” he continued.
France will also “generalize” at all of its borders the use of the “border force” already deployed on the border with Italy, the Prime Minister announced. This brings together police, gendarmes and customs officers. François Bayrou also announced this Wednesday that he had asked for an “interministerial audit” on the “policy of delivering visas” by France to the general inspections of the police and foreign affairs.