French authorities to begin stopping small boats in Channel following UK pressure
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 Prime Minister wrote to the President urging him to support the plan and stating there presently "have no effective deterrent" in the Channel.
French security forces will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their passengers, according to authoritative statements.
French police have rarely acted to prevent the overcrowded boats leaving the coastline because it is considered excessively high a risk to both officers and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French maritime police spokesperson says officers will start intervening at sea, with the objective of safeguarding human life.
Significantly, the spokesperson ruled out the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been suggested as a potential technique to disable the propellers of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a major step forward, coming after a short-lived shift towards a more aggressive strategy this warmer season, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister departed from office.
That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and President, when authorities were observed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a boat.
Now French authorities will again be allowed to intercept boats before they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of France's north coast, however it's not clear how the small boats will be prevented.
Powerful gusts are currently postponing the start of interceptions and the human trafficking networks will be looking for methods to adapt to avoid interception, as they have done so often in the past.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for response.
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