Rarely have relations between Algeria and France, a country that was once a colony, been straightforward.
Relations appeared to be improving after a rocky period in July when France supported Algeria’s regional rival Morocco over its disputed Western Sahara territory.
A new uprising follows the arrest in France of an Algerian consular official and two other men in April for allegedly helping to kidnap Amir Boukhors, an Algerian government critic, near Paris.
What does Algeria’s new colonizer’s expulsion mean for relations with Algeria, and why are diplomats now being expelled?
Let’s break it down:
Amir Boukhors, who is he?
With more than 1 million TikTok subscribers, Boukhors, or Amir DZ, is an Algerian online critic and influencer who has criticized President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
In 2023, the French government granted Boukhors political asylum.
He is a fraudster and a “terrorist,” according to the Algerian government, who they have been extradite from France since 2016.
Nine times has Algeria tried to extradite Boukhors. France has turned down every attempt.
Why is it that an Algerian consular official allegedly wants to kidnap him?
Boukhors claimed in an interview with Le Parisien that he was stopped by an unmarked car with flashing lights on the evening of April 29, 2024, when he returned to his home in Val-de-Marne near Paris.
He was handcuffed and threw into the vehicle by four men in civilian attire.
They explained to me first that an Algerian official wanted to speak with me and that that was the reason they were taking me. Then they informed me that my plans had changed and that I was traveling to Amsterdam, Boukhors reported to the newspaper.
Boukhors claimed that he was then forced to take sleeping pills and spent more than 27 hours in a “container” before being released without explanation.
Information led to the arrest of three men on April 11 and the fourth man, who is still reportedly at large, was discovered during a subsequent investigation by France’s counterespionage agency.
Two of the men have not been identified in any information. According to French officials, the third was a consular employee from Algeria.
Algeria immediately responded with a statement outright, calling out its official’s involvement and demanding that the person’s arrest be “in public… without notification through the diplomatic channels.”
The statement denied what it claimed was a “far-fetched argument” based solely on Boukhors’ claim that his mobile phone was “found around the home.”
In connection with a terrorist operation, all three suspects were later accused of kidnapping or arbitrary detention.
What was the diplomatic response?
Algeria announced on April 14 that Algerian consular officials had 48 hours to leave.
The Algerian official’s arrest was followed by France’s arrest, which was later confirmed in the statement read on public television.
The arrest was intended to “humiliate Algeria, without taking into account this agent’s consular status, and without regard for any diplomatic customs and practices,” according to the statement.
The following day, France kicked off 12 Algerian consular officers from its territory and recalled its ambassador from Algiers.
Algeria should “resume dialogue” and “take responsibility for the degradation in bilateral relations,” according to a statement from the office of French President Emmanuel Macron.
Why have Algerian and French relations historically been poor?
Algerian civilians were killed and a class structure was established by France, which France colonized for 132 years, resulting in the death of European settlers and their descendants.
Algeria was viewed as a fundamental part of France by the French, who refused to leave. France finally left in 1962 after a war of independence. Due to the number of people who were killed by France during the struggle for independence, Algeria is still known as the “country of a million martyrs.”
However, there is still a way out. Not just between France and Algeria, but also across the entire region, is the Western Sahara’s conflict.
The conflict between Algeria and Morocco is at the heart of the country’s poor relations, which includes the disputed territory of Western Sahara. While Algeria supports the pro-independence Polisario Front and has taken in tens of thousands of Sahrawi refugees, Rabat claims the area as its own and occupies the majority of it.
What position does France hold regarding the Western Sahara?
Despite the United Nations not acknowledging Rabat’s claim to be the sovereign of the Western Sahara, France has largely supported Morocco. And last year, Macron asserted that France backed Moroccan rule over the Western Sahara.
Algeria recalled its ambassador at the time and expressed its “deep disapproval” of France’s “unexpected, ill-timed, and counterproductive” decision to support Morocco’s plan for autonomy in Western Sahara.
However, it was believed that since then, things have improved between the two.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stated in an interview conducted in early April that “we are reactivating as of right now all the mechanisms of cooperation in all sectors.” The curtain has been lifted, and we are returning to normal, in accordance with President Tebboune’s statement.
However, the Boukhors case and subsequent diplomatic expels have demonstrated that the curtain has come back in.
