French authorities will start stopping small boats in Channel after British demands
France has agreed to start intercepting migrant vessels in the Channel, following an extended period of pressure from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift comes after the British leader wrote to the French leader asking him to support the plan 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 statements.
French authorities have infrequently intervened to stop the heavily loaded boats leaving the coastline because it is considered too great a danger to both personnel and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French naval police representative says officers will begin intervening at sea, with the objective of safeguarding human life.
Significantly, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been suggested as a potential technique to snarl the engines of the vessels.
This determination to take action at all is a significant advancement, coming after a short-lived shift towards a more aggressive approach this warmer season, which dropped off when the former Interior Minister left government.
That was highlighted in the summer month, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and President, when French police were observed wading into the sea to slash the hulls of a vessel.
Now French authorities will again be permitted to intercept boats before they collect migrant individuals from the coastal areas of northern France, however it's uncertain how the vessels will be prevented.
Powerful gusts are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling networks will be looking for methods to adjust to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
The Home Office and Downing Street have been contacted for response.
Connected Updates
- Why Britain cannot just return asylum seekers to France
- France backing away from commitment to intercept migrant boats
UK immigration
Channel crossings
Border security
