French authorities to begin stopping small boats in Channel following UK pressure
France has agreed to start stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, after months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President urging him to back the plan and saying there presently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French security forces will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've picked up their passengers, according to authoritative statements.
French police have infrequently acted 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 crucial that we deploy these tactics this month... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel."
Currently, a French maritime police spokesperson says officers will start intervening at sea, with the objective of safeguarding human life.
Significantly, the spokesperson excluded the use of nets to stop boats, which had earlier been reported as a potential technique to snarl the engines of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a significant advancement, following a brief shift towards a more aggressive approach this warmer season, which ceased when the former Interior Minister departed from government.
That was highlighted in the summer month, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when French police were observed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.
Currently French officials will once more be permitted to intercept boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking individuals from the beaches of northern France, although it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are presently delaying the commencement of interceptions and the people-smuggling gangs will be seeking ways to adapt to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.
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