The Algerian government has closed its borders since March 2020 in an attempt to stop the spread of Covid-19. Many Algerians find themselves stranded in Marseille. Testimonies in front of the doors of the Consulate General of Algeria.
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Just a sea separates these hundreds of Algerians from their country. Since the establishment of the first confinement in France on March 17, 2020, the Algerian government has closed its borders. All flights have been suspended to Algeria.
For thousands of Algerians who wanted to join their families, a repatriation campaign finally opened on December 23. It was scheduled to end on January 31, 2021. It ended early on January 10.
Twenty-three flights were able to take off from Marignane airport to Algeria, allowing the repatriation of some 5,000 passengers.
On the sea, traffic between France and Algeria was also suspended. According to Kamal Issad, director of Algeria Ferries Europe, “The last departure was on March 18th. Our company carried out only one repatriation, it was on July 22. About 500 Algerians then returned to the country”.
No official figure on the number of Algerians stranded on French territory since. The Facebook group “Repatriation of Algerians blocked in France” has more than 16,000 members and circulates at the rate of 80 messages per day. As proof that the situation is far from being resolved.
The boats of the Algerian Ferries Europe shipping company have no longer transported passengers to the Algerian coast since July 22, 2020.
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© Nicolas VALLAURI / MaxPPP
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At the consulate: hundreds of candidates leaving
“We do not have the right to return home to Algeria”. Scarf in the colors of the Algerian flag around the neck, an old lady denounces. Like her, they are hundreds to mobilize in front of the Consulate General of Algeria in Marseille. The building has become the place of their gathering every Saturday, always with the same leitmotif message: “Open the borders of Algeria”.
Behind her, dozens of men and women express their anger. They chant their demands in front of the two large black doors of the Algerian consulate. A man lets his anger explode: “We are humiliated in front of the whole world”.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered on Tuesday January 26, 2021, in front of the Algerian Consulate General in Marseille.
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© Fares ARBAOUI / FTV
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Despite wearing the mask, the faces do not deceive. Desperate, at the end of their tether, everyone has had enough. For some, it has been over a year since they set foot in their country, deprived of their loved ones.
“I’ve been here for thirteen months, I need to see my family. Members of my family have died in Algeria and I was unable to attend their last moments. I was not present at their funeral.“, explains a sixty-year-old, gazing lost.
In front of the consulate, these nationals brandish their passports. Some display their precious plane tickets to Algiers, the only city of departure and repatriation. With the hope of being heard. Wasted effort.
Almost non-existent communication
Their feet tread the ground of the rue Paradis, yet it is a hell that they live to obtain concrete answers from the Algerian consulate. The crowd roars. On Saturdays the doors are closed. Like Monday. Barriers and four security guards protect the entrance. Fueled by fatigue, excesses are never far away.
A little further on, two employees keep a register. Algerians write down their names so they can make an appointment with consulate staff, the next step in a hypothetical return.
The security agents specify: “These appointments do not allow you to return to Algeria. At the prefecture you make an appointment. In each administrative place, you make an appointment. It’s the same here!”. Ambiance…
When asked, the Algerian Consulate General in Marseille did not wish to answer our questions. Nor from the Algerian embassy in Paris. No more information from Air Algeria.
In Marseille, the agency of the airline is located opposite the Saint Charles train station. Curtain drawn. A local resident informs us that the agency has not reopened since the end of year celebrations.
The offices of the airline company Air Algérie in Marseille, closed Tuesday January 26, 2021
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© Fares ARBAOUI / FTV
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A situation still at an impasse
At the end of January, no official announcement had been made by the Algerian government concerning the repatriation of its nationals.
With the resurgence of coronavirus cases caused by the different variants, the situation seems to be getting more complicated for these expatriates. And the specter of a third confinement, moves the prospect of a close return to Algeria a little further.
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