France will start stopping small boats in Channel following UK pressure
French officials have consented to start intercepting small boats in the English Channel, after months of pressure from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President asking him to support the initiative and stating there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French security forces will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their passengers, according to authoritative confirmation.
French police have rarely acted to prevent the overcrowded boats leaving the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both personnel and individuals.
"It is crucial that we implement these methods this period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel."
Now, a French maritime police representative states personnel will start taking action at sea, with the objective of protecting lives.
Notably, the spokesperson ruled out the use of nets to intercept boats, which had previously been suggested as a potential method to disable the propellers of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a significant advancement, coming after a brief change towards a stricter approach this summer, which dropped off when the former government official departed from office.
This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and French president, when French police were observed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.
Currently French authorities will again be allowed to stop boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of northern France, however it's not clear how the vessels will be prevented.
Strong winds are presently postponing the start of interceptions and the people-smuggling networks will be looking for ways to adjust to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the past.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been contacted for comment.
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