French Parliament Reopens Algerian Memory's Wounds With a New Harkis Law
A new French provocation against Algeria and Algerians has emerged, through the gate of the Harkis, amid unprecedented diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
A group of members of the French National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, submitted a new draft to reopen the wounds of Algerians' collective memory by broadly recognising the 'harkis' and their families and compensating them with significant sums of money.
This new provocation came through a draft law submitted to the French National Assembly, dated April 17, 2025, by 13 members of the lower house, checked out by Echorouk, through which Paris intends to reevaluate the amount of financial compensation awarded to Harkis and their families who lived in internment camps between March 20, 1962, and December 31, 1975, because the government considers them victims of discriminatory policies and systematic isolation within the French soil.
Article 1 of the draft law stipulates that every Harki or one of his children who lived during this period in the camps is entitled to reassessed financial compensation, with each year or part thereof counted as part of the years due.
Article 2 stipulates an amendment to Article 3 of the law of February 23, 2022, establishing a new national committee for the distribution of compensation. This committee will determine the amounts due to each individual based on the length of stay and living conditions within the camps.
The document also emphasised that the damages to be compensated include, in addition to poor housing and deprivation of basic rights, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment by camp supervisors, lack of basic healthcare, and the failure of social assistance to reach beneficiaries directly.
Article 3 stipulated amending the composition of the National Committee, including, in addition to MPs and official representatives, three members from the Harkis themselves, to ensure an 'independent voice' within the decision-making body. This constituted a precedent in granting a group that collaborated with colonialism new institutional weight within the French administrative system.
Article 4 requires the French authorities to ensure that all compensation claim files are processed within six months from the date of submission, holding the state responsible for any delays resulting from a lack of human or material resources. It has been proposed to recruit 100 additional employees to monitor the files, given that approximately 14,000 files are currently pending.
Article 5 proposed the establishment of a committee to oversee the financial management of the compensation fund, composed of representatives from parliament, the government, harki associations, and independent experts. This committee would submit a detailed annual report to the French parliament.
To spare the French public treasury the burden of the amounts due from the revaluation of compensation, Article 6 stipulates the creation of an additional tax on tobacco sales, the proceeds of which will be directed to a compensation fund for harkis and their children.
The dangerous aspect of the new text is that it does not limit to material compensation, but rather moves towards attempting to establish what is called 'full citizenship' for the 'harkis,' who lost their nationality under French Order No. 62-825 of July 21, 1962, which had set a short deadline for confirming their retention of French nationality. The drafters of the proposal considered this measure to be a 'voluntary political deprivation' of nationality, requiring moral compensation and full recognition.
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