French authorities will start stopping small boats in Channel after UK pressure
French officials have consented to start intercepting small boats in the English Channel, after an extended period of insistence from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister wrote to the French leader asking him to support the plan and saying there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French security forces will be allowed to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've picked up their passengers, according to official confirmation.
French police have infrequently intervened to prevent the overcrowded boats leaving the shoreline because it is considered excessively high a risk to both personnel and individuals.
"It is essential that we implement these methods this period... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel waters."
Now, a French naval police spokesperson states officers will start taking action at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.
Notably, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been suggested as a possible method to disable the engines of the vessels.
This determination to take action at all is a major step forward, following a brief shift towards a more aggressive approach this warmer season, which ceased when the previous government official left office.
That was highlighted in the summer month, preceding a meeting between the UK leader and President, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.
Currently French officials will once more be permitted to intercept boats before they collect migrant individuals from the coastal areas of France's north coast, however it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are presently postponing the start of interceptions and the people-smuggling gangs will be looking for methods to adapt to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the past.
The Home Office and Downing Street have been approached for comment.
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