French authorities will start intercepting small boats in English Channel following UK pressure
French officials have consented to start stopping small boats in the Channel, after an extended period of pressure from the UK.
The change in policy comes after the British leader sent a letter to the President asking him to support the plan and stating there currently "have no effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've collected their migrants, according to official confirmation.
French police have rarely acted to stop the heavily loaded boats departing from the coastline because it is considered too great a danger to both personnel and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this month... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel."
Now, a French maritime police representative says officers will begin intervening at sea, with the aim of protecting lives.
Notably, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been suggested as a possible technique to snarl the propellers of the boats.
This determination to take action at all is a major advancement, coming after a short-lived shift towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased when the former government official left government.
This was demonstrated in the summer month, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when French police were observed walking into the sea to damage the sides of a boat.
Now French officials will once more be permitted to intercept boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of northern France, although it's not clear how the vessels will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are presently postponing the start of interceptions and the human trafficking networks will be seeking ways to adapt to evade detection, as they have done so often in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for response.
Related Developments
- Why Britain cannot just send back migrants to France
- France withdrawing from pledge to intercept migrant boats
