France will start stopping small boats in English Channel following British demands
France has agreed to begin intercepting migrant vessels in the Channel, after months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President asking him to support the plan and saying there presently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police have been authorized to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their migrants, according to authoritative confirmation.
French authorities have infrequently acted to stop the heavily loaded boats departing from the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both personnel and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these methods this month... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel waters."
Now, a French maritime police representative states personnel will begin intervening at sea, with the aim of protecting human life.
Significantly, the spokesperson ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been reported as a possible method to snarl the propellers of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a significant advancement, coming after a brief shift towards a stricter approach this summer, which ceased when the previous government official departed from government.
That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and President, when French police were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.
Currently French authorities will again be permitted to stop boats before they pick up migrant individuals from the coastal areas of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the vessels will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are currently postponing the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be looking for methods to adapt to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the past.
The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.
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