France this week increased its moves to push back illegal immigrants living in its territory and combat the terrorist threat, including diplomatic efforts such strengthening border security and a series of arrests.

The government decided to speed up the resolution and move on all fronts after the occurrence of three attacks during one month, between the end of September and the end of October. The first attack took place in front of the old headquarters of "Charlie Hebdo" magazine, the second in Conflans Saint-Honorine and the third in the Church of Our Lady in Nice.

In this context, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanan began a tour Friday that includes, in particular, countries from the Maghreb, with a focus on the issue of "combating terrorism and illegal immigration," according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.

His tour began Friday morning in Rome, where he declared that "the battle against terrorism is a battle we are waging against an ideology," and called for "a cultural battle against this ideology, its funding, its location, and those who support it abroad."

On the same day, Darmanan went to Tunisia, to which he conveyed his country's desire to deport about twenty Tunisian citizens suspected of being extremists.

"We talked about the seriousness of the phenomenon of terrorism, which is a challenge that the whole world faces... there must be international cooperation," Tunisian Interior Minister Taoufik Sharafeddine said after his meeting with the French minister.

Regarding possible deportations of Tunisians from France, Sharaf Eddine explained that "anyone who proves that he is Tunisian is welcome in his country, and the issue is subject to a legal text, and Article 25 of the constitution prohibits the refusal to accept the return of a Tunisian to his country in the first place."

The minister has spoken for weeks about the existence of a list of 231 foreigners residing illegally in France and being pursued on suspicions of extremism. Seventy percent of them belong to four countries, three of which are from the Maghreb, in addition to Russia, which Darmanan will visit "in the coming days," according to the minister's circles.

The same sources indicated that there are about 60 Tunisians in an illegal residency status in France, 20 of them are subject to immediate deportation after they have exhausted all procedures, saying that there are close to 60 Moroccans, Russians and another fewer than Algerians.

And the French minister confirmed that there is "good cooperation to ensure that they are not released without supervision."

Darmanan arrived in Algeria Saturday afternoon on a two-day visit, during which he will meet his counterpart Kamal Beljoudoud and Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum, and then head to Morocco.

According to the minister’s circles, among the goals is to grant consular licenses to deport those concerned in light of the restrictions imposed at the borders due to the new Corona virus.

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Gerald Darmanan's presence alongside President Emmanuel Macron during a visit Thursday to a point on the French-Spanish border came to show the desire to "strengthen" the fight against illegal immigration and human smuggling networks, many of which are increasingly linked to terrorist networks.

Macron announced that the number of security forces deployed at the French border would be doubled, from 2,400 to 4,800.

The director of the border guards at the scene said that since the beginning of the year, the security forces have arrested about 30 people, classified as threatening national security.

The French Interior Ministry stated that so far, 26 of the 232 foreigners that Darmanann spoke about have been deported. There are also "more than a hundred" in administrative detention centers that hold illegal residents awaiting deportation.

Despite the difficulty of conducting deportations at present, the Minister of Interior requested district governors to keep all of them in detention centers.

The Ministry of the Interior acknowledged that “there is an increasing difficulty“ to carry out deportations ”first due to COVID-19 and the closure of borders. The countries of origin must also accept their deportation, and it takes time. These people can also file administrative appeals. International law prohibits their deportation to countries experiencing wars against them. Like Syria and Libya."

For his part, Hassan Ndaw, an official at the "Refuji Kosi" association, which carries out activities in several administrative detention centers, said, "It is clear that priority is given to placing these persons (in the centers)."

Celine Goyo of the Asfam Association warned of the possibility of using the security threat as a justification "to facilitate the deportation of more people."