France to begin stopping small boats in English Channel following British demands
French officials have consented to begin intercepting migrant vessels in the Channel, after months of insistence from the UK.
The change in policy follows the British leader sent a letter to the French leader urging him to back the initiative and saying there presently "lack any effective deterrent" in the Channel.
French security forces have been authorized to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their migrants, according to official statements.
French authorities have rarely acted to prevent the heavily loaded boats departing from the shoreline because it is viewed as excessively high a risk to both personnel and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these methods this period... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French maritime police representative states officers will begin taking action at sea, with the objective of safeguarding lives.
Notably, the official excluded the use of nets to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a potential technique to disable the engines of the vessels.
The decision to intervene at all is a major step forward, following a short-lived change towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which dropped off when the previous government official departed from office.
That was highlighted in the summer month, preceding a summit between the UK leader and French president, when French police were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a boat.
Now French officials will again be allowed to intercept boats before they pick up migrant passengers from the beaches of northern France, however it's uncertain how the vessels will be stopped.
Strong winds are presently postponing the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be looking for methods to adapt to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the past.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been approached for response.
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