France to begin stopping small boats in Channel after British demands
France has agreed to begin stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, following months of pressure from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy comes after the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President asking him to back the initiative and saying there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to official statements.
French authorities have infrequently intervened to prevent the heavily loaded boats departing from the shoreline because it is considered too great a danger to both personnel and civilians.
"It is crucial that we deploy these tactics this period... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel."
Currently, a French naval police spokesperson says officers will begin intervening at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.
Significantly, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been suggested as a potential method to disable the engines of the vessels.
This determination to take action at all is a major step forward, coming after a short-lived shift towards a stricter strategy this summer, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister left government.
That was highlighted in the summer month, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were witnessed wading into the sea to damage the hulls of a boat.
Now French officials will once more be permitted to intercept boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of France's north coast, however it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.
Strong winds are currently postponing the commencement of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be looking for methods to adjust to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
The Home Office and Downing Street have been contacted for comment.
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