French authorities will start stopping migrant vessels in Channel after UK pressure
France has agreed to start stopping small boats in the English Channel, following months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift follows the British leader sent a letter to the President urging him to back the initiative and saying there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to authoritative confirmation.
French police have rarely intervened to prevent the overcrowded boats departing from the shoreline because it is viewed as too great a danger to both personnel and civilians.
"It is crucial that we deploy these methods this month... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel waters."
Now, a French maritime police spokesperson says personnel will begin taking action at sea, with the aim of safeguarding lives.
Notably, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been reported as a potential technique to disable the propellers of the boats.
This determination to intervene at all is a major step forward, following a brief change towards a stricter approach this warmer season, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister departed from office.
That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were witnessed wading into the sea to damage the hulls of a vessel.
Now French authorities will once more be permitted to stop boats before they pick up migrant individuals from the beaches of France's north coast, however it's uncertain how the small boats will be prevented.
Powerful gusts are presently delaying the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be seeking methods to adapt to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for response.
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