French authorities will start intercepting migrant vessels in English Channel after British demands
France has agreed to begin stopping small boats in the Channel, after months of pressure from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy follows the Prime Minister wrote to the French leader asking him to back the initiative and saying there presently "have no effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French security forces have been authorized to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've collected their migrants, according to authoritative statements.
French authorities have rarely acted to prevent the heavily loaded boats departing from the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a risk to both personnel and individuals.
"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French maritime police representative says officers will begin taking action at sea, with the objective of safeguarding human life.
Significantly, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been suggested as a possible method to snarl the engines of the vessels.
The decision to intervene at all is a significant step forward, following a brief shift towards a stricter strategy this summer, which ceased when the previous government official left government.
This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and President, when authorities were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.
Now French authorities will once more be allowed to stop boats prior to they collect migrant individuals from the beaches of northern France, although it's uncertain how the small boats will be prevented.
Powerful gusts are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be seeking methods to adjust to evade interception, as they have done so often in the past.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for response.
Related Updates
- Why UK cannot just send back asylum seekers to French territory
- France withdrawing from pledge to intercept migrant boats
UK immigration
Channel crossings
Border security
