Mediocre action is better than no action at all. This seems to be the option chosen by Algeria by reintroducing visas for foreign nationals carrying Moroccan passports.
Like in a game of dominoes, although the game seemed almost dead, Algeria felt the need to play yet another piece and declare “double six”. A familiar expression for Algerian politicians, the most famous of whom are the indescribable Abdelmalek Sellal, now incarcerated, and Kamel Rezig, current advisor to the Algerian president and former Minister of Commerce.
Fallacious reasons
The reasons given by Algeria to justify this decision consist of the same refrain: accusing Morocco of all evils, including the most eccentric, perhaps one day even that of having assassinated the late Gaïd Salah. The accusations, as serious as they are improbable, range from espionage to burning forests, including subversion in Kabylia. Yet no hard evidence has ever been presented to support these claims. Where have the “infiltrated Zionists” carrying Moroccan passports, the Moroccan arsonists, or even the supposed plotters gone? No trace.
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However, the visa is established, placing Moroccan citizens under the yoke of a consular bureaucracy that Algeria can extend or shorten according to its political maneuvers. This is not the first time that Moroccan and/or Algerian citizens find themselves taken hostage in political games where they are relegated to the rank of pawns.
The ineffectiveness of the Tunisian detour
But why is Algeria reintroducing this visa? The most immediate reason is the ineffectiveness of the “Tunisian detour” imposed to reduce the movement of people. A detour, “effectively” used by citizens on both sides to circumvent the closure of direct borders. By imposing restrictions, Algeria seeks to harden the crisis and extend its impact on a social and human level, by trying to stem these traffic flows.
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At the heart of this decision is the political frustration fueled by Algeria’s inability to confront its diplomatic failures. On the international scene regarding the Sahara question. Algeria is losing ground against Morocco, whose autonomy plan is receiving more and more support. Unable to counteract this dynamic, it activates the only lever it has left to communicate this political spite: the interruption of human flows between the two countries.
Provoke a Moroccan reaction
However, the real objective of the Algerian state is not so much to block the arrival of Moroccans as to provoke a reaction from Morocco. Because if Algeria can, through bureaucracy, slow down Moroccans wishing to go to Algeria, it can do nothing to prevent Algerians from going to Morocco, particularly via Tunisia. However, a growing number of Algerians are discovering Morocco as a modern, open and prosperous country, much more attractive than other destinations that have become “hostile” where they could face complex social and political realities.
Algeria is undoubtedly hoping for Moroccan reciprocity, a blocking of Algerians by the establishment of a Moroccan visa, in order to further complicate mobility between the two countries. But what will Algeria do if Morocco chooses not to respond in kind? This is a question that remains open.
