France-Algeria relations remain tense after decades of independence
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Algeria and France's rich history of tensions, sparked by over 130 years of colonialism, prevails after Paris backed Morocco's recent proposal for Western Sahara's autonomy.
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President of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, at the press conference at the Palais d’El Mouradia, January 28, 2024. (AFP)
Tensions between Algeria and France have increased after years of relative diplomatic ease, sparked by Paris' backing of Morocco's autonomy plan for Western Sahara.
Algeria denounced this as a "step that no other French government had taken before", as Algeria backs Western Sahara's pro-independence Polisario Front.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has now rescheduled his visit to the former colonial power twice, and it is speculated the overall trip may be canceled.
Last month, Algeria withdrew its ambassador to Paris following French President Emmanuel Macron's statement that Morocco's autonomy plan was the only viable solution for Western Sahara.
Algeria and France's colonial history, the looming trauma
The North African country was under French colonialism for 132 years, gaining its independence in 1962 following the Algerian revolution, which resulted in the collapse of the French empire, in a revolution that saw the murder of 1.5 million Algerians by French troops.
France has attempted to make amends after its brutal occupation of Algeria however, it refuses "to apologize or repent" for its atrocities in the Arab country.
"The national narrative about the Algerian war is still dominant and during a campaign like the presidential election, Algerians are sensitive to these issues in their internal policy choices," Hasni Abidi of the Geneva-based CERMAM Study Center told AFP.
'Reopening old wounds'
France wrongly "believed it could stifle the people's revolution with iron and fire," the Algerian leader said last week during the country's Moudjahid National Day in memory of war combatants.
Despite Paris and Algiers' attempts to restore diplomatic relations by mending their historical differences through a joint commission of historians in 2022, Abidi deemed the initiative unsuccessful since the commission did not achieve its objective "in freeing itself from political supervision."
The expert highlighted that France's support for Morocco's autonomy plan in Western Sahara "will deal another blow to the issue of memory" at the risk of "reopening old wounds and stigma from the colonial past."
French colonialism considered a 'crime against humanity'
Several historians and Macron have recognized French colonialism as a "crime against humanity" due to the heinous crimes the colonial power committed during its 132-year-long occupation.
"We need to put pressure on our enemies of the time so that they repent and apologise" for their "numerous crimes," 92-year-old former war combatant Mustapha Boudina said, stressing that Algeria should seek additional reparations from its former colonizer.
Although the colonization of the nation ended over six decades ago, France continues to withhold skulls of resistance fighters, as well as historical and symbolic artifacts from 19th-century Algeria. Some of the items belonged to the country's anti-colonial figure Emir Abdelkader, stolen from his library by French forces during the 1943 Battle of Smala.
"These items are in museums in France, where, from a legal standpoint, their presence is illegal," Amira Zatir, an advisor at the Emir Abdelkader Foundation, told AFP.
Algeria has also demanded the return of historical archives from its Ottoman and colonial periods that were transferred to France before and after its independence. Additionally, Algiers continues to seek reparations for actions carried out by the former colonial power, including the 17 nuclear tests conducted in the Sahara desert between 1960 and 1966.
Context on Western Sahara
The Western Sahara conflict began in 1975, when Spain withdrew from the territory, leaving it disputed between Morocco and the Polisario Front, a Sahrawi nationalist movement that seeks independence for the region.
Morocco controls about 80% of Western Sahara, which it considers its own "sovereign territory". The region is rich in phosphates and fisheries.
The Polisario Front continues to call for a UN-supervised referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara, as agreed in the 1991 ceasefire agreement, but this has not yet happened.
After nearly 30 years, the ceasefire in Western Sahara broke down in November 2020. Morocco sent troops to the far south of the territory to disperse Sahrawi protesters who were blocking the only road to Mauritania and the rest of Africa. The Polisario Front says that the road was built after 1991, in violation of the ceasefire agreement.
