The fate of two migrants suspected to be from Mali is currently hanging in the balance after Mali rejected them on identification and documentation grounds.
Mali has sent back two people who were deported from France on the same planes they arrived on, questioning whether they were even Malian citizens according to the BBC.
The pair were flown to Bamako using European travel permits or “laissez-passez”, not passports or other Malian papers, the government said.
The government said it could not accept people “simply assumed to be Malian”.
Recent reports of a deal with the EU to repatriate failed Malian asylum seekers have sparked protests.
In a statement, the Malian government condemned the use of the European “laissez-passez” in cases of expulsion, describing it as “against international conventions”.
It also warned airlines not to let people using the document fly to Mali. The French authorities have not yet commented.
Malians are among the sub-Saharan African nationalities most deported from France. There is a large Malian community in France, the former colonial power, who support their relatives back home by sending money.
More than 360,000 people have reached Europe by crossing the Mediterranean this year. Many pass through Mali on their way although Malians are not among the 10 nationalities most likely to attempt the journey.
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