Will Nawelle's ordeal soon be nothing more than a very bad memory?
Since last July and the death of her mother, this 49-year-old Parisian has not taken offense against the Algerian authorities who have "double-closed" their country.
Nawelle was not allowed to fly over the Mediterranean for the burial: “Their only response to my requests is in three words:
Our condolences
". Like her three siblings, Nawelle chose to settle in Paris after her medical studies. Without ever forgetting Algiers where, every year, she visited her parents. But that was before the Covid-19, which took away his mom and drove his dad to the hospital for long weeks. His dual nationality and his two passports are of no use to him. The phones of the Algerian embassy or consulates in France ringing in the void.
Algeria has chosen to close its borders on March 17, 2020. It has cut itself off from the world to protect itself from the coronavirus.
Without exception.
The few airlines that still provide the link have allowed the repatriation to France of nearly 100,000 nationals trapped in Algeria for a year.
But from Paris, the planes take off empty.
Or almost.
"There are less than ten passengers in an Airbus of 250 places", confides a regular of the line.
Diplomats, a few businessmen and a handful of nationals expelled from France after prison terms, all of whom have obtained express waivers from the government of Abdelaziz Djerad.
The Prime Minister has never given the slightest prospect of reopening, nor mentioned the establishment of a "health passport".
" It's good news.
A very good news !
"
For the some six million French people of Algerian origin, the tide seems to be turning. Thursday, the day after Eid-el-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the country's Minister of Health announced a hell of a turnaround. A PCR test of less than 36 hours and a quarantine of 10 days for positive cases (at the expense of the traveler in hotels required for this purpose) should allow re-entry into Algerian soil. Nawelle is waiting for details on the schedule before she can finally come to the aid of her "lonely" 82-year-old father. “He still has sequelae and he is very depressed because, in addition to his wife, three of his brothers died of Covid. From a distance, we can no longer do it. We have to be able to go see him or have him come to us in France, but the visa services were closed until now… ”,chokes this square-minded scientist, who was considering recruiting a lawyer to unblock her situation.
Read alsoAn endless stopover for six Algerians still stranded at Roissy: "They can't take it anymore"
Fatima is euphoric.
" It's good news.
A very good news !
She repeats over the phone.
The last few months have been trying for this employee of an nursing home in Étréchy (Essonne).
She had to resign herself to letting go alone the remains of her "little daddy", who died on November 12, at the age of 88.
“He spent all his life in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, but he wanted to be buried in his village in Kabylie.
Five days after his death, a van took him away.
There were 43 coffins on the plane… ”she says, her voice shaking.
This image haunts her.
Since then, Fatima, 59, has been on antidepressants.
“We managed to have him buried because he left after a bad fall.
The deaths of the Covid, them, are even more badly treated: they are piled up in a cemetery next to the airport, for fear that their corpses contaminate the country ”, she adds.
Fatima applauds the end of the blockade, a "double penalty" for all her family.
“My 81-year-old mother is waiting to be able to meditate on daddy's marble tomb to begin her mourning,” Fatima adds.
She will leave "as soon as possible", without waiting for her brothers and sisters.
“We will never be able to find a date that suits everyone.
Especially if we also have to wait until everyone is vaccinated.
"
Reconnect with family ties and life before
His vaccination, Nouara began to worry about it this Friday, the day after the announcement of the Algerian Minister of Health. This household help from Épinay-sur-Seine (Seine-Saint-Denis) searched all day for an appointment on Doctolib, just in case… On July 13, her father will be 90 years old. And she would like not to celebrate by videoconference. Thanks to Skype, she is connected every evening to Tizi Ouzou. One of his brothers who remained in the country gave him the patriarch “for ten minutes”. Last year, during the first confinement, she found him depressed and emaciated. “He complained a lot about the loneliness. We thought he was going to go there but my father is doing well now, morale is up, ”says this energetic 60-year-old brunette.
His luggage ?
Fadila prepared it in April 2020. And never defeated it.
This retiree from Maisons-Alfort (Val-de-Marne) used to go to Annaba "two or three times a year".
In particular to flower the tomb of his ancestors and spend time with his family.
For fourteen months she has been waiting.
Every evening, Fadila "prays to stop the disease", which thank God has not touched any of her relatives.
But the pandemic put the work undertaken in his house on hold.
“The mason stopped everything during the confinement.
He is waiting for my return so that I can choose the earthenware, ”adds the citizen, understanding by nature.
Fadila is just anxious to make the trip again.
The return to the country is that, for her, the return to the life before.
Telephone exchange this Tuesday between presidents Tebboune and Macron
The subject had become a priority for the French government, which hoped to resolve the situation before the summer. Each year, some 100,000 binationals spend their holidays “in the country”. Beyond these summer considerations, the situation weakens diplomatic relations between Paris and Algiers. For example, it has become very difficult for France to send back to Algeria undocumented migrants invited to leave the territory or those leaving prisons with a stay ban. “We negotiate on a case-by-case basis,” says an official. Our priority is that they agree to take back radicalized individuals. In return, we grant visas for Algerian businessmen. It's give and take. The file is so complex that it is directly managed by the Elysee. Like everything that touches Algeria.The memorial questions on the Algerian war and colonization never cease to disturb relations between the two States. In mid-April, Jean Castex's visit to Algiers was postponed sine die, at the last moment. Officially for health reasons… At the beginning of the week, Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Abdelmadjid Tebboune spoke to each other for fifteen minutes on the phone to discuss various cases of “common interest”, according to the diplomatic formula.Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Abdelmadjid Tebboune spoke to each other for fifteen minutes on the phone to discuss various cases of "common interest", according to the diplomatic formula.Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Abdelmadjid Tebboune spoke to each other for fifteen minutes on the phone to discuss various cases of "common interest", according to the diplomatic formula.
To read also "It would take a miracle": failed in Morocco or Algeria, they tell their dismay
According to M'jid El Guerrab, deputy of Agir des Français de l'Autre, Algeria is happy with its closure.
“With only 3,300 deaths from Covid, against 9,000 in Morocco and 11,400 in Tunisia, Algeria has won its bet.
I can understand that a country is closing itself off in the face of a pandemic, especially when its hospitals are less developed than certain countries in Europe… ”, analyzes the elected official, who does not seem to doubt the official figures… yet contradictory with the stories of families bereaved on this side of the Mediterranean.
But the closing of the borders makes verification impossible.
A keen connoisseur of the country doubts that there have been so few cases in a country of 43 million people. And sees other reasons for this stagnation since last March: “Algeria has always viewed mass tourism with a very negative view, which promotes prostitution, drug consumption and above all criticism of the regime. The 100,000 visitors from France live in a democracy and are not fooled by the limits of power. The Algerian government believes that they are stirring up rebellion ”, underlines this expert in international relations. Especially at a time when the Hirak, this Friday revolt movement calling for more democracy born in 2019, comes to life. This Friday, during the 117th weekly demonstration, the Algerian police made numerous arrests of activists, opponents and journalists.