Morocco Accused of Hindering France’s Illegal Immigrant Repatriation Efforts

Addressing the issue on the CNEWS set, Didier Leschi, director general of the French Office for Immigration and Integration, explicitly accused the Maghreb countries of not "playing the game" on the repatriation of illegal immigrants.

"We need to make the countries of origin, who are often countries to whom we grant a lot of visas, understand that they must accept to play the game and take back those who have no right to remain on French territory," explained the official, stating that "it is essentially the Maghreb and the rest of Africa that are concerned."

For Didier Leschi, "this is where the migratory flows are the most important", pointing to "the two main nationalities crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Spain, namely Algerians and Moroccans".

It should be recalled that the situation of illegal immigrants had led France to considerably reduce by 50% the granting of visas for Moroccans and Algerians and by 30% for Tunisians, particularly for students from the Maghreb countries who refuse to welcome their citizens in an irregular situation in the Hexagon.