France Tightens Visa Rules for Maghreb Countries, Straining Relations with Morocco

"By putting the entire Maghreb in the same bag... French diplomacy is making a serious mistake towards Morocco," comments Julien Dray in a tweet. He also recalled that France did not congratulate Rabat on the holding of the legislative, municipal and regional elections on September 8.

On Wednesday, France decided to tighten the granting of visas for Moroccans, Algerians and Tunisians on the grounds that these three countries refuse to issue the consular laissez-passer necessary for the return of their nationals rejected from France. Reacting to this decision, Nasser Bourita, Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Residing Abroad, dismantled this argument. He said that the Moroccan consulates in France had issued nearly 400 laissez-passer in recent months.

For their part, the French in Morocco condemned this decision and called for its outright withdrawal. "We, elected officials, advisers to the French abroad and members of the steering committee of the ’Français du Monde-Adfe Maroc’ association, object that this is a serious attack on the international mobility of people. We denounce this project which amounts to causing confusion between the policy of movement of people and the migration policy in the pre-electoral context that we know," wrote the association "Français du Monde-Adfe Maroc" in a statement.