French authorities will start intercepting migrant vessels in English Channel following British demands
French officials have consented to begin stopping small boats in the Channel, after months of pressure from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister wrote to the President urging him to back the initiative and saying there presently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've collected their migrants, according to authoritative confirmation.
French police have infrequently intervened to prevent the overcrowded boats departing from the coastline because it is viewed as too great a danger to both officers and individuals.
"It is essential that we deploy these methods this period... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel."
Now, a French naval police representative says officers will begin intervening at sea, with the aim of protecting lives.
Notably, the official excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had earlier been suggested as a potential technique to disable the propellers of the boats.
This determination to intervene at all is a significant advancement, following a short-lived shift towards a stricter strategy this summer, which dropped off when the former government official departed from government.
That was highlighted in the summer month, preceding a summit between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a vessel.
Now French officials will again be allowed to intercept boats before they collect asylum-seeking individuals from the beaches of France's north coast, however it's uncertain how the vessels will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are currently delaying the start of interceptions and the people-smuggling gangs will be looking for methods to adjust to avoid detection, as they have done so often in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.
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