Faced with rising anti-French sentiment on the African continent, Senator Hélène Conway-Mouret called for urgent action to end visa restrictions. The head of French diplomacy, Catherine Colonna, ensures for her part that “discussions are progressing with Morocco in terms of migratory cooperation”.
The visa restrictions imposed on Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian nationals were the subject of an oral question posed to the French Senate, Wednesday, October 5, 2022.
The decision taken by the French President, in the Defense Council a year ago, affected above all nationals who weave and maintain timeless human, cultural, educational and economic ties between France and the three countries concerned (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), underlined Hélène Conway-Mouret, senator for French nationals living abroad.
“This policy of figures is experienced as a collective punishment by those who present no migratory risk, who go to France for family and professional purposes”, added the socialist senator, former minister delegate in charge of French people living abroad. 2012 to 2014.
It is then, she added, calls for tenders lost because the foreign investor does not obtain the necessary visa. “Foreign investors are turning to another more welcoming country. Spain, Austria and Italy are reaping economic benefits today and thank you for it”.
Hélène Conway-Mouret is convinced that these restrictive measures “prove to be ineffective”, especially since “the States concerned have not agreed to take back their nationals in an irregular situation”.
“Illegal immigration has still not decreased. As for the political and electoral effects that you expected, the last elections showed the vanity of your approach”, observed the senator of the socialist party before launching: “it is time to leave the care once more to the experienced staff of the consulates of ‘investigate the requests submitted to them, and in doing so refuse those which should be’.
And to add: “it is time to negotiate bilateral agreements on immigration, agreements without which the emotional and carnal fabric of the relationship that binds us to Africa will fade without a future”.
Reacting to these remarks, the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, wished to recall that these restrictive measures were decided “in response to the observation of a sharp drop in the number of consular passes issued by these countries within the framework of the expulsion measures pronounced by the Ministry of the Interior once morest foreigners in an irregular situation on our territory”.
According to Catherine Colonna, “in terms of migratory cooperation, recent discussions between the French interior ministers and the countries concerned are positive. There is a real improvement in the situation and they are continuing in a constructive way”.
“The Minister of the Interior and I are delighted. We are progressing, once more very recently, just a few days ago with Morocco. We hope to be able to continue to move forward in order to put an end to this situation, ”launched the minister.
Catherine Colonna, however, seems to ignore the reality on the ground, thinking that these “restrictive measures had been implemented with the concern of preserving priority audiences as much as possible, in particular students, entrepreneurs, artists, etc”. She only has to see the number of people among these priority groups who have had their visa applications refused at French consulates.
Referring to the long delays in processing visa applications in French consulates, the Minister tries to justify herself by attributing them to the cumulative effect of two years of pandemic, announcing in passing a series of measures aimed at reducing these delays.
“Reinforcements will be sent to the countries that need them the most. I will quickly create a specific support center dedicated to these missions,” said the head of French diplomacy.