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Ìýrejected 32,000 SchengenÌýÌýby Algerian nationals in 2021,Ìýa report by SchengenVisaInfo has said.

This amounted to 40 percent of Schengen visa applications from Algerian nationals, according to data retrieved by the news site.

The rejections by France accounted for 80.5 percent of the total Schengen visa rejections for Algerian nationals, the site said.

Overall, a total of 140,212 Algerians applied for a Schengen visa last year, with only 83,941 of them receiving approval for their applications, meaning that the remaining 32 per cent had their application refused.

ranked second after France among the countries that did not issue Algerian applicants with a visa.

Despite the high rejection rates, France did accept just under 40,000 applications for Algerians last year.

Besart Barjami, the founder of theÌýSchengenVisaInfo website, said low Covid-19 vaccination rates among Algerians were a possible factor in the high number of denied visa applications.

Algerian nationals have for years had high Schengen visa rejection rates, which stood atÌý38 percent in 2020, 43 percent in 2019 and 45.5 percent inÌý 2018.

was the top rejecting country throughout each period.

France last year slashed the number of visas available to Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian nationals accusing the three North African countries of failing to cooperate in the return of their nationalsÌýwho had their asylum applications denied.

The move was condemned by all three North African countries.