French authorities will start intercepting migrant vessels in Channel following UK pressure
French officials have consented to start stopping small boats in the Channel, following months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy comes after the Prime Minister wrote to the President urging him to back the initiative and stating there currently "have no effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've collected their migrants, according to authoritative statements.
French authorities have rarely intervened to stop the heavily loaded boats leaving the coastline because it is viewed as too great a risk to both personnel and civilians.
"It is essential that we implement these methods this period... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French naval police representative says personnel will begin intervening at sea, with the aim of protecting lives.
Notably, the official excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been reported as a potential method to snarl the engines of the boats.
This determination to take action at all is a major step forward, coming after a brief shift towards a stricter strategy this summer, which dropped off when the previous government official left government.
That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when authorities were witnessed wading into the sea to damage the hulls of a vessel.
Currently French authorities will once more be allowed to stop boats before they collect asylum-seeking individuals from the beaches of northern France, although it's not clear how the small boats will be prevented.
Powerful gusts are presently postponing the commencement of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be seeking ways to adapt to avoid interception, as they have done so often in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.
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