France to begin intercepting migrant vessels in Channel after UK pressure
French officials have consented to start stopping small boats in the Channel, following an extended period of insistence from the UK.
This policy shift follows the Prime Minister wrote to the President urging him to support the plan and saying there currently "have no effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French security forces will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their migrants, according to authoritative confirmation.
French police have rarely acted to stop the overcrowded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as excessively high a risk to both personnel and individuals.
"It is crucial that we implement these tactics this period... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel waters."
Now, a French naval police representative says officers will begin intervening at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.
Notably, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been suggested as a possible technique to snarl the engines of the boats.
The decision to intervene at all is a major advancement, following a brief change towards a stricter approach this summer, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister departed from office.
That was highlighted in the summer month, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were observed wading into the sea to damage the sides of a vessel.
Currently French officials will once more be allowed to stop boats before they collect asylum-seeking passengers 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 people-smuggling gangs will be seeking methods to adapt to evade detection, as they have done so often in the past.
The Home Office and Downing Street have been approached for response.
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