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France and Algeria

01 November 1994

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A similar process of criminalising dissent is being conducted by the French authorities in relation to Algerians seeking asylum or simply living in France. In a second wave of coordinated pre-dawn raids, 300 special police arrested 95 suspected Islamic activists, and claimed to have found an arms cache in a south-east Paris suburb. Interior minister Charles Pasqua, known for the virulence of his anti-Arab policies, claimed that links had been discovered with the Armed Islamic Group, of which those arrested were allegedly members, and fundamentalist groups in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Canada. 77 of those arrested were later charged with terrorist-related offences.

If Pasqua's government is anti-fundamentalist, though, it offers little comfort to secular Algerians trying to flee the country. All consulates in Algeria are closed in response to the war there and the fear of a flood of refugees. Applications for visas have to go to a special office in Nantes. Academics and journalists have been assassinated, either by the government forces or by hard-line fundamentalist group members, while awaiting visas to enable them to get out of Algeria.

Independent, 4, 9, 15 & 18.11.94.

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