France will start intercepting small boats in Channel after UK pressure
French officials have consented to begin stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, following months of insistence from the UK.
The change in policy follows the British leader wrote to the President asking him to back the initiative and saying there presently "lack any effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.
French security forces have been authorized to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've collected their migrants, according to official confirmation.
French police have rarely intervened to stop the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as too great a danger to both officers and individuals.
"It is crucial that we deploy these methods this month... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Now, a French maritime police spokesperson says officers will begin taking action at sea, with the aim of safeguarding human life.
Notably, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a potential method to disable the engines of the vessels.
This determination to take action at all is a significant step forward, coming after a short-lived shift towards a stricter strategy this summer, which dropped off when the former government official left office.
This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when French police were witnessed wading into the sea to damage the hulls of a vessel.
Now French officials will once more be allowed to intercept boats before they pick up asylum-seeking individuals from the coastal areas of France's north coast, however it's uncertain how the small boats will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling gangs will be seeking ways to adjust to avoid interception, as they have done so often in the past.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.
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