French authorities will start intercepting small boats in English Channel following UK pressure
France has agreed to start intercepting migrant vessels in the Channel, following months of insistence from the UK.
This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister wrote to the President asking him to back the initiative and stating there currently "have no effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their passengers, according to official statements.
French authorities have infrequently acted to stop the heavily loaded boats departing from the shoreline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both officers and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel."
Now, a French maritime police representative says personnel will begin intervening at sea, with the aim of safeguarding lives.
Significantly, the spokesperson ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been reported as a potential technique to snarl the propellers of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a significant advancement, following a short-lived change towards a stricter strategy this warmer season, which dropped off when the previous government official left office.
This was demonstrated in the summer month, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and President, when French police were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.
Now French officials will once more be allowed to stop boats prior to they pick up migrant individuals from the beaches of northern France, however 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 avoid detection, as they have frequently done in the past.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for comment.
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