France will start stopping small boats in Channel after UK pressure
France has agreed to start intercepting migrant vessels in the Channel, following months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift follows the British leader sent a letter to the French leader asking him to support the initiative and saying there currently "have no effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French security forces have been authorized to intercept the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their migrants, according to authoritative confirmation.
French police have rarely intervened to stop the overcrowded boats departing from the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a risk to both officers and individuals.
"It is crucial that we implement these tactics this month... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Now, a French maritime police representative states officers will start taking action at sea, with the objective of safeguarding human life.
Significantly, the official excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been reported as a potential technique to disable the propellers of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a significant step forward, following a brief change towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which ceased when the former government official departed from office.
This was demonstrated in July, preceding a summit between the Prime Minister and President, when French police were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the hulls of a vessel.
Currently French authorities will again be allowed to stop boats prior to they pick up migrant 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 human trafficking networks will be seeking methods to adapt to evade interception, as they have done so often in the past.
The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for comment.
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