Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau announced Wednesday that he had ordered the prefect of Mayotte to organize “group flights” to return nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo to their country. “ From this month of October, the prefect of Mayotte – he has been instructed to do so – will organize group flights to be able to deport foreigners in an irregular situation to the Democratic Republic of Congo » (DRC), declared Mr. Retailleau to the National Assembly during questions to the government, questioned by MP RN Anchya Bamana.
Invited this Thursday, October 3 on RTL, the Minister of the Interior announced that there will be others. “ It is a policy which consists of saying that those who have arrived irregularly overseas or in mainland France are not intended to stay here. When you enter a house through a window, it is a crime. Well when we violate our borders, it must also be a crime “, he insisted, indicating that he wanted to put in place “ bilateral agreements ».
“Let’s condition our development aid”
“There is no question of taking off planes from a departure point without being certain that upon their arrival, there will be acceptance from the local authorities. The international response will consist of bilateral agreements so that countries of origin, but also countries of transit, accept that nationals are sent back to them. The case of the Democratic Republic of Congo is a first example, there will be others. “, he announced.
Asked about the RN’s proposal not to accept any visa for countries which do not grant consular passes, Bruno Retailleau announced that he wanted to go through force. “ It’s a completely theoretical idea. I am going to establish a balance of power. First, there will be dialogue, for example with Morocco, it is a friendly country that I respect enormously. For countries that are going to be recalcitrant, there are three levers: visa policy. Algeria, we issue 200,000 visas and we have a little less than 2,000 consular passes in return, it’s totally unbalanced, I want reciprocity. Second thing, a certain number of countries provide development aid: let’s condition our development aid on reciprocity in terms of immigration. Third thing, we are currently negotiating in Brussels what we call the trade preference mechanism. That is to say: we must be able to play, including on customs tariffs, for countries that do not respect their commitments.” Before the deputies, Mr. Retailleau also announced “bilateral security agreements with the countries” of the African Great Lakes zone (DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania) to “stop the flows”, he said. he declared.
