French authorities to begin stopping small boats in Channel after UK pressure
French officials have consented to begin stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, following months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy follows the Prime Minister sent a letter to the French leader urging him to back the plan and stating there presently "have no effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their migrants, according to official confirmation.
French authorities have rarely acted to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger 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 naval police representative says officers will start intervening at sea, with the objective of protecting lives.
Significantly, the spokesperson ruled out the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had earlier been suggested as a potential technique to disable the engines of the boats.
The decision to take action at all is a major advancement, coming after a short-lived shift towards a stricter strategy this summer, which ceased when the previous government official left office.
That was highlighted in July, preceding a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when French police were observed wading into the sea to damage the hulls of a vessel.
Currently French authorities will again be permitted to intercept boats before they collect migrant individuals from the coastal areas of northern France, however it's not clear how the vessels will be prevented.
Strong winds are currently postponing the start of interceptions and the human trafficking networks will be seeking methods to adapt to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.
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