A few days before the national day of homage to the Harkis, celebrated each year on September 25, the Élysée wanted to "
strike very hard
" to mark its commitment. During a ceremony Monday, September 20 bringing together representatives of Algerian veterans, the head of state
"asked for forgiveness"
on behalf of France, and promised to bring "
before the end of the year
" a bill on recognition and reparation for them. “
The history of the Harkis is a history of the French and it is the history of the French,
” he said, thereby counting on “
taking a new step
”, eagerly awaited by the associations of 'Veterans.
Read alsoThe recognition of the State, the eternal quest of the harkis
Who were the Harkis?
The war between the French State and the National Liberation Front (FLN) in Algeria, from 1954 to 1962, ended with the Evian Accords, which established a ceasefire and announced the withdrawal of all French military forces within two years of independence. These agreements make no provision for the many Algerian auxiliaries who fought in the French army. The official instructions insist on the difficulties of an installation in France for the "
Harkis
", these auxiliaries estimated between 200,000 to 400,000, according to historians. Their repatriation should only be considered "
if the maintenance in Algeria proves impossible
", it is affirmed.
Only a few soldiers, against official orders, organize their transit from Algeria on their own to ensure their protection. Between 60,000 and 90,000 people are thus repatriated, but received in very poor conditions, isolated from the so-called transit and reclassification camps. It was in these ghettos that the Harkis lived in seclusion until 1974 when, by dint of hunger strikes and demonstrations, in particular the revolt in the Bias camp in 1975, they made their voices heard, revealing to the dumbfounded French the existence of these areas of those left behind.
Others are left to fend for themselves in their country of origin, where they are considered collaborators and traitors.
The staff of the National Liberation Army (ALN) considers that "the
fate of the Harkis will be decided by the people and before God
", and places them on blacklists.
According to various estimates, some 55,000 to 75,000 auxiliaries are thus victims of a bloody repression.
Have they already been recognized?
It was only in 1974 that the Harkis refugees in France obtained the status of veterans. As such, they receive, as well as their surviving spouses or ex-spouses who have not remarried, an annual allowance of € 4,195. However, we had to wait until the years 1980 to 2000 for compensation: in lieu of repairs, a sum of 55,000 to 75,000 euros, and accompanying measures for the second generation. In 2001, a complaint for “
crimes against humanity
” was filed by eight Harkis in Paris, reporting 150,000 victims. But this does not succeed.
The same year, four decades after the end of the war, Jacques Chirac recognized for the first time France's “
debt of honor
” to the natives who fought in its ranks.
Since then, successive presidents have seized upon this memory, which is always very sensitive, and various compensation procedures have been established over time.
In October 2018, a decision of the Council of State marks a new stage in the recognition of this tragedy, with the condemnation of the French State, for the “
unworthy
”
living conditions
reserved for families in the reception camps.
What has Emmanuel Macron already done in this direction?
From the presidential campaign, the current head of state had made the Harkis file one of his commitments. "
If I am elected, I will take my memorial responsibilities so that each of the parties who have lived through the war is restored in its dignity
", he had launched during the in-between rounds. Without delay, the presidency undertook in 2018 a six-month consultation under the aegis of the Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, Geneviève Darrieussecq, to decide on the deployment of an additional 40 million euros dedicated to former harkis and their children in the over the next four years. Or an increase of 400 euros in allowances, as well as the establishment of a solidarity mechanism from 2019 for the sons and daughters of harkis in difficulty,with individualized examination of their situation.
Read alsoBoaza Gasmi, for the honor of the harkis
In 2020, the Head of State commissioned historian Benjamin Stora for a report on colonization and the Algerian war.
Handed over on January 20, the latter advocates in particular facilitating the repatriation of Harkis and their children to their country of origin.
A further suggestion to meet the national committee Harkis link (CNLH), accusing its author of "
minimalism
" and "
window dressing
."
The Harkis, according to them, would either be too old for such a trip, or badly received on arrival, since some Algerians consider them traitors.
Still others have pointed to a report that is too political, to the detriment of history.
What are they asking for today?
To date, the various initiatives of successive governments to do justice to the Harkis have always been considered insufficient by them. The national liaison committee of Harkis (CNLH) and the Association Justice Information Reparation thus demanded, with the approach of September 25, that a "
law of recognition of the abandonment of the harkis
" be voted by "
the end. of the year
”, ie a definitive recognition of France's responsibility“
in the disarmament, abandonment and massacre of the harkis
”, as well as for the“
arbitrary imprisonment
”of the survivors once they arrive in France.
Last July, 33 Les Républicains (LR) deputies spoke of the sixtieth anniversary of the Evian agreements, on March 19, 2022, as a suitable opportunity to establish “
real reparation
”. But the Head of State did not wait for this date, wishing that
the recognition and reparation of the Harkis
be inscribed by the end of the year
. A measure which will contribute, according to the Head of State, to "
heal the wounds
" which must be "
closed by words of truth, gestures of memory and acts of justice
".