“We will not twist the arm” of North African countries, warns MP Brigitte Klinkert

The Macronist MP recommends in a report “a platform for political dialogue”.

North African countries “must become partners in our migration policy”, estimates Tuesday, November 26 on franceinfo Brigitte Klinkert, Ensemble deputy for the Republic of Haut-Rhin, author of a parliamentary report on the “Immigration, asylum and integration” mission of the 2025 finance bill. She points to it. “obtaining consular passes” (LPC) issued by the country of origin of the expelled person as “a major obstacle to the execution of Obligations to leave French territory (OQTF)” In France, “particularly for people placed in administrative detention centers”.

According to its report, the expulsion rate, that is to say the share of foreigners forced to leave the territory, is 19% in the European Union and 7.5% in France. The absence of consular passes “is really the main reason”, explains Brigitte Klinkert. The question of the OQTF returned to the center of the news in September after the murder of Philippine, found buried in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. The alleged murderer is a Moroccan subject to an OQTF. “We won’t twist their arm. We need a tool for dialogue that allows us to smooth out discussions on the subject of migration”assures the MP. “We observed, for example in 2021-2022, that the pressure on these countries through visa restrictions did not work and, on the contrary, it degraded our cooperation with the countries”she explains.

Diplomatic relations between France and Algeria have been extremely tense for months on the subject of visas, particularly while the beginning of dialogue has taken place with Morocco. The MP recommends “a platform for structured and permanent political dialogue with these countries”. Emmanuel Macron's visit to Morocco at the end of October “made it possible to relaunch political dialogue and economic cooperation” and is “useful for better coordinating with Morocco the returns of illegal immigrants”estimate Brigitte Klinkert.

The MP also judges “not effective” to condition development aid on the issuance of consular passes. “We can propose increasing it or slowing it down because the first long-term consequence of conditioning the issuance of the LPC will be to degrade the economic conditions of the countries in question and therefore to generate new immigration tomorrow.” she explains.