French authorities will start stopping small boats in Channel following UK pressure
French officials have consented to begin intercepting migrant vessels in the English Channel, after months of insistence from the UK.
The change in policy comes after the British leader wrote to the French leader urging him to support the initiative and saying there presently "have no effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police have been authorized to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to authoritative statements.
French police have infrequently intervened to prevent the overcrowded boats leaving the coastline because it is viewed as too great a danger to both officers and civilians.
"It is crucial that we deploy these tactics this period... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French maritime police representative states officers will start intervening at sea, with the aim of safeguarding human life.
Significantly, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been suggested as a possible method to snarl the engines of the vessels.
The decision to intervene at all is a significant advancement, following a short-lived change towards a more aggressive strategy this warmer season, which dropped off when the former Interior Minister left office.
That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and French president, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the hulls of a boat.
Now French authorities will again be allowed to stop boats before they collect asylum-seeking individuals from the beaches of France's north coast, however it's uncertain how the small boats will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are presently postponing the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be seeking ways to adjust to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been contacted for comment.
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