The 1968 Franco-Algerian Migratory Agreement: History and Current Disputes

The 1968 Franco-Algerian Migratory Agreement

• 📜 Signed on December 27, 1968, by Algerian Foreign Minister Abdelaziz Bouteflika and French diplomat Jean de Lipkowski, this agreement established the framework for migration between France and Algeria.
• 🤝 Under the deal, France agreed to allow entry for a revisable quota of 35,000 Algerian workers annually and granted them a special status.
• ⏳ Algerian nationals could enter France freely and had nine months to find work, a longer period than other nationalities.
• 🏠 Upon securing employment, they were entitled to a 5-year residency permit.

Context and Revisions

• 🌍 Signed six years after Algerian independence, the agreement aimed to address France's need for workers while reserving the right to adjust quotas and residency permit durations during periods of mass unemployment.
• 🔄 The agreement has been revised three times, with Algerians no longer exempt from visa requirements since 1986.
• 📌 Despite revisions, it remains the reference document governing migration between the two countries.

Current Disputes and Rejections

• 💥 The agreement is currently under threat and is being rejected by the French far-right, who deem it obsolete.
• 🗣️ Demands are being made to renegotiate or abandon the deal entirely.
• 🚫 Algeria has slammed these demands as racist and islamophobic.
• 📊 Algerians constituted 16% of foreign-born individuals in France in the past year, making them the largest foreign population.