French authorities will start stopping migrant vessels in Channel following UK pressure
France has agreed to begin stopping migrant vessels in the Channel, after an extended period of insistence from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy follows the British leader sent a letter to the French leader urging him to back the plan and stating there presently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French security forces have been authorized to intercept the small boats at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to official confirmation.
French authorities have rarely intervened to prevent the overcrowded boats leaving the coastline because it is considered excessively high a risk to both personnel and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this month... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French naval police spokesperson says personnel will start taking action at sea, with the aim of safeguarding lives.
Significantly, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been reported as a potential technique to disable the engines of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a major step forward, following a short-lived change towards a stricter approach this warmer season, which dropped off when the former government official departed from government.
This was demonstrated 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 slash the hulls of a vessel.
Now French officials will again be allowed to intercept boats before they pick up asylum-seeking individuals from the beaches of northern France, however it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.
Strong winds are presently postponing the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling gangs will be seeking methods to adjust to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the past.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been contacted for response.
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