France will start intercepting small boats in English Channel after UK pressure
France has agreed to begin stopping migrant vessels in the Channel, after months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift comes after the British leader sent a letter to the French leader asking him to support the plan and saying there presently "lack any effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've collected their migrants, according to official confirmation.
French authorities have infrequently intervened to prevent the heavily loaded boats departing from the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both personnel and individuals.
"It is crucial that we deploy these tactics this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Now, a French maritime police spokesperson says officers will start taking action at sea, with the objective of protecting lives.
Significantly, the spokesperson ruled out the use of nets to intercept boats, which had earlier been suggested as a possible method to disable the propellers of the vessels.
The decision to take action at all is a significant advancement, following a short-lived shift towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased when the previous Interior Minister left office.
That was highlighted in July, preceding a meeting between the Prime Minister and President, when French police were observed wading into the sea to damage the sides of a boat.
Now French officials will once more be permitted to intercept boats prior to they pick up migrant passengers from the coastal areas of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the small boats will be prevented.
Powerful gusts are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling networks will be looking for methods to adapt to evade detection, as they have done so often in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been contacted for comment.
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