Fewer titles, more expulsions: France’s crackdown on Moroccans

The French Ministry of the Interior published its annual report on immigration for the year 2025 this Tuesday, marked by a significant increase in repressive activity and a reorientation of residence permit flows. Data from the Directorate General of Foreigners in France (DGEF) show a tightening of residence conditions for North African nationals, while humanitarian grounds are driving the overall statistics upwards.

The state services carried out more than 190,000 arrests of foreigners in an irregular situation in 2025, an increase of 30% compared to the previous year. The expulsion component follows the same trend with 24,985 removals carried out, a record level since 2014. While Algeria accounts for 10% of these procedures, Morocco and Tunisia remain priority targets for the French administration in terms of deportation.

In terms of residence permits, the balance for North African countries is declining. Moroccans received 36,100 new permits, a drop of 2.3%, followed by Algerians (-4.6%) and Tunisians (-6.2%). This trend is correlated with a 10% decline in regularizations, impacted by the Retailleau circular which has tightened the criteria for presence on the territory. Furthermore, economic immigration is declining by 13%, while the student permit remains the primary reason for attribution.

Conversely, the overall 11.5% increase in residence permits is explained by the massive increase in humanitarian grounds. Afghan and Ukrainian nationals have thus benefited from a strong increase in reception in France.