French authorities to begin stopping small boats in Channel following UK pressure
France has agreed to begin stopping small boats in the English Channel, following months of pressure from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift follows the Prime Minister sent a letter to the French leader urging him to back the plan and saying there currently "lack any effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.
French security forces will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their migrants, according to authoritative confirmation.
French police have rarely acted to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the coastline because it is considered excessively high a danger to both personnel and individuals.
"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this month... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Now, a French maritime police representative states personnel will begin taking action at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.
Notably, the spokesperson ruled out the use of nets to intercept boats, which had previously been suggested as a possible method to disable the engines of the vessels.
The decision to intervene at all is a major advancement, following a short-lived change towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased when the previous government official departed from 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 witnessed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a boat.
Currently French officials will once more be permitted to stop boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of France's north coast, however it's uncertain how the small boats will be prevented.
Strong winds are presently postponing the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be seeking methods to adapt to avoid detection, as they have frequently done in the past.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been contacted for comment.
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