Vivre la Double Nationalité

Hello, my friends, I would like to speak today about the debate on nationality. It is an open secret that I have two nationalities. The first is Algerian. The second is another nationality. It is not French, but I think it is quite difficult to guess given the context. My goal is not to tell you about my life, but to try to share with you a certain number of concepts about dual nationality and how it is experienced when you actually have two countries. So this is an Algerian passport. This is my passport. Don't tell me that these are Algerian papers, because I might take it the wrong way. Why aren't they papers? What is the difference between papers and an Algerian passport? This passport is not the result of an administrative process. It is rather the result of a life. He says something. He says something immutable, something that is factual in my life that will never change. That is to say, he says that my father and grandfather are of Algerian nationality. That is how I got it. I had to prove with a certain number of documents that I am the third generation of Algerians. If only the father is Algerian, that is not enough to obtain this document. If only my father had been Algerian, I would have had to naturalize myself to obtain Algerian nationality. So Algerian naturalization is extremely difficult. Why? Because in Algeria we have an extremely. How can I put it? We have a vision. We see nationality only through blood. We do not see nationality through anything else. So if Algerian nationality proves that I am at least a third generation Algerian, it is easy to understand that in this context it is very difficult to give Algerian nationality to someone else, to someone who comes from abroad. Why? Because since they are not descended from an Algerian, it will be difficult to give them this nationality. For us, it seems like an aberration. So I am not saying that it is impossible to obtain Algerian nationality through naturalization. It is possible. I have heard of it. Although in my life I have never met anyone who has obtained an Algerian passport through naturalization. Let me tell you something. Ah, I may have met some, but why can't I tell you? Because in Algeria we have such a requirement. Not for integration, but for assimilation. This assimilation must be so complete that even if you go on a weekend trip with 10 Algerians, they won't guess that you are of foreign origin unless you tell them it must be at that level. So we are not talking about integration. We. We are talking about total and complete assimilation. Of course, if someone comes to us as a visitor, we are not asking them to integrate or assimilate. If someone comes to us to study for five years, we are not asking them to keep their differences, to keep their original culture, their original language and their original religion. We have no problem with that and we would be very happy to talk to them. On the other hand, if someone wants to become a naturalized Algerian, we have what seems very obvious to us at our we have a requirement for total and complete assimilation. Someone can say so, and it is their right. Of course. Don't take what I'm telling you the wrong way. It's not a narrow mindedness. If someone says, I don't want to assimilate to Algeria or the Algerians, I understand that, I totally understand that. But in that case, they might not be in the right country to apply for nationality. Do you understand? You have to be consistent in your approach. You can't say I have problems with the values of your society or the culture of your society, which is absolutely a right. I completely respect that. But at the same time, I would like to obtain the nationality of your society and that's it. That doesn't mean anything. So when someone obtains Algerian nationality through naturalization, in the most unlikely case, they get it. Now these children must also apply for naturalization because it is not as automatic as that. Given that, as I was saying at the beginning, it takes two generations to automatically obtain Algerian nationality. So these children must also demonstrate assimilation as complete as their parents. And in the highly unlikely event that they too obtain Algerian nationality, their children beyond the third generation. Well, we can assume that given that two generations have shown complete attachment and complete assimilation into Algerian society, we can assume that by the third generation we are probably dealing with Algerians. And in that case, nationality becomes automatic. Now, one of the requirements for obtaining Algerian nationality is conversion to the Islamic religion. If the person comes from a country or culture that is not Muslim, they must demonstrate that they have converted to Islam. So it's true that it may seem a little absurd when you have a secular mindset, but in reality it makes sense. I'll tell you what it is. It's not because Algerians are furiously religious. It's not because our leaders are religious either. Many of them don't give a damn about religion. That's not it. It's not really a religious point in reality. Let me explain to you. When the person assimilates completely and then comes a point where they can apply for Algerian nationality. So already at that stage they are totally assimilated. That means you talk to the person, you feel like you're talking to an Algerian. Why are they also asked to convert to Islam? It's actually A way of saying that later on you won't be able to come and claim. You won't be able to make a claim related to saying I am a minority or I am diverse. No, that doesn't exist. It's not possible. In fact, once you sign the document and you certify that you are Muslim, the problem afterwards is that you are a little bit stuck. You won't be able to claim other things. There you have it. That's kind of the idea. The idea is to try to achieve the most harmonious society possible. So that's the vision, if you like, of Algerian nationality. That's why no country in the world, even countries that don't accept dual nationality, can at most forbid Algerians from using their passports or other things like that. But they can't take away their Algerian nationality. There's no way to lose Algerian nationality. I cannot lose my Algerian nationality no matter what I do. Because Algerian nationality is not an administrative process. Again, it is not like a driver's license or a card for a tennis club or something else. It is a life story that spans several generations. This story is not changeable. So even if I go somewhere else, I get another nationality or something else. Even though my father and grandfather will have had their own experiences, I would have had my affiliation with them. And that will not change. Hence the passport. Many Westerners, many Western countries have a different vision of nationality. Not all of them. By the way, if you look at Greece, for example. Yes, Greece, of course, Greece has a vision of nationality that is extremely similar to Algeria. In Greece, for example, it is not possible to obtain Greek nationality if you have not converted to the local religion, Orthodox Christianity. So it is also a country where it is extremely difficult to obtain nationality. In other countries, it is a choice. In fact, it is a choice. In other countries, nationality is more of an administrative process. So the problem. Let me explain the problem. When someone comes from a country where nationality is transmitted by blood and arrives in a country where they apply for and obtain nationality after a purely administrative process, well, they will have difficulty feeling like they are from that country. So let me give you an example. I will now transpose this to France. Let's imagine that I had French nationality, which I don't have, and that I was thinking purely in Algerian terms. Well, in a purely Algerian context, I'm not French. Why? Because my father and grandfather are not French nationals. So I'm not French, so I don't feel French. There you have it there. That's a big problem. That's a big Problem, because when you leave a country like Algeria, you have to try to adopt the codes and ways of thinking of the host country. So if you have a racialist view of nationality, for example, that's yet another problem. You have to try to have a republican view of nationality when you arrive in a country like France in Greece. That wouldn't work in Greece, you would have to have an extremely religious generational view of nationality, etc. So the problem is that France grants nationality at the end of an administrative process without ensuring that people know what they are committing to. They have never asked people to be loyal to France. They have not been asked to love France. They have not even been asked to feel French. They are asked to provide a certain number of photos, a certain number of forms, tax documents and so on. Then at the end, they sign, they put in some toner, they wait, and then, boom, they have a French passport. You can see the difference. It can actually destabilize a certain number of people who come from countries like Algeria. So I will tell you how I deal with having two nationalities. For me, I have an Algerian nationality in the context of a sense of descent, it is a nationality that I obtained, let's say, through blood. If I apply for French nationality, which I haven't done, but if I were to apply for French society, it means that I would be ready to die for France if necessary. If I'm not ready to go that far, I won't apply for French nationality. It's a pretty clear choice. Applying for the nationality of a country means having a bond of honor with that country. For me, that's how I see it. It's like I come, I join you, and I give my word of honor that I am 100% with you. Honor is greater than blood for me because we say, well, someone died to defend what? To defend their honor. So they give their blood to defend their honor. And in general, we give the least important thing to defend the most important thing. So I have a blood bond with one country, which is Algeria, and I have a bond of honor with another country. So it corresponds, if you like, to two allegiances. These are two complete allegiances. And can I tell you how this translates? For example? For example, if I am in a professional context and there are two companies fighting for a contract, I tend quite coldly to favor the company that comes from my country, my second country. Okay. Why? Because, you know, I feel I have a duty. I would never go to war, for example, against Algeria, which is my country of birth, but I would never go to war against my country, my second country, with which I have an honorary attachment. So someone can tell me, what would you do if these two countries went to war? If these two countries went to war, since I do not have the right to attack either one? Well, I would put myself at the service of both. And how do you put yourself at the service of both? Well, for example, it's exciting for peace between the two peoples. It's like if you have two children who are brothers and they have the same relationship with you, and then they start killing each other. You take the side of which one. There you go. It's pretty much the same equation. It's a pretty inhuman equation, but it's an equation that's pretty easy for me to solve, because it's very clear that I don't believe in either of these two countries. So there's no contradiction. That's pretty clear. But at the same time, I could help both of them, because there's no contradiction there. And so I'll remain someone who works for peace, for example. There you go. I'm trying to share with you my feelings, my vision on dual nationality. The problem is that many people apply for nationality without knowing the true scope of this commitment. Many people say, well, I'm going to apply for the papers. This means that, well, it's just a document that allows me to work, that allows me to open a bank account, or that allows me to travel. You know, in this respect, in terms of work, travel, banking and all that, passports do not all have the same value. Some are more valuable than others. So in a completely administrative process, someone might say to themselves, well, I applied for this passport because it makes it easier to travel. But in fact, it's true that this is a process that is done for the wrong reasons and it will not lead to anything good. Unfortunately, that's it. Now, for the people the other day who had a debate in France about dual nationality, very quickly, let me tell you a couple of things. Someone who burns a car in France during a match or something else, the penal code is very clear on this. They risk up to 10 years in prison and a €150,000 fine. So if there are 10 cars that burn, I want 10 people in prison, each sentenced to 10 years, and I can assure you that things will calm down without starting to talk about nationality and things like that, without getting to that stage. The problem in France today is that it's very complicated. I'll have to address that in another video. In fact, there's a lot of confusion about nationality, about. About belonging by blood, about belonging by soil, about culture. It's a real mess, so to speak. Sorry for the expression, but I think that's how we can refer to it.