France will start intercepting small boats in Channel following UK pressure
France has agreed to begin stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, after an extended period of insistence from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy follows the British leader wrote to the President urging him to back the plan and stating there currently "lack any effective deterrent" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their passengers, according to official statements.
French authorities have rarely acted to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is considered excessively high a risk to both personnel and civilians.
"It is crucial that we implement these methods this month... We have no effective prevention in the Channel."
Now, a French maritime police representative says officers will start intervening at sea, with the aim of protecting human life.
Significantly, the official excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been reported as a potential method to snarl the propellers of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a major step forward, coming after a brief shift towards a more aggressive approach this warmer season, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister left government.
That was highlighted in the summer month, preceding a summit between the Prime Minister and President, when authorities were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the hulls of a vessel.
Currently French authorities will again be allowed to stop boats before they collect asylum-seeking 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 postponing the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling gangs will be looking for methods to adjust to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the past.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for response.
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