France will start intercepting migrant vessels in Channel after UK pressure
France has agreed to start stopping small boats in the English Channel, following months of pressure from the UK.
This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President urging him to support the plan and saying there currently "lack any effective deterrent" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their migrants, according to official statements.
French police have rarely intervened to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both personnel and individuals.
"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this month... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French maritime police representative says officers will start intervening at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.
Notably, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been suggested as a possible technique to disable the engines of the vessels.
This determination to take action at all is a major step forward, following a short-lived change towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased when the previous Interior Minister left government.
That was highlighted in July, preceding a meeting between the UK leader and President, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the hulls of a boat.
Currently French authorities will once more be permitted to stop boats prior to they pick up migrant passengers from the coastal areas of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are presently delaying the commencement of interceptions and the human trafficking networks will be seeking ways to adjust to evade interception, as they have done so often in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been approached for comment.
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