France will start stopping migrant vessels in English Channel after UK pressure
France has agreed to start stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, after an extended period of insistence from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy comes after the Prime Minister wrote to the President asking him to support the initiative and stating there presently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French security forces will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've collected their migrants, according to authoritative statements.
French authorities have rarely acted to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both officers and civilians.
"It is crucial that we deploy these methods this month... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French maritime police spokesperson says officers will begin intervening at sea, with the objective of safeguarding human life.
Notably, the official excluded the use of nets to stop boats, which had previously been reported as a possible technique to disable the propellers of the boats.
The decision to take action at all is a significant advancement, coming after a brief shift towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which ceased when the former Interior Minister departed from office.
This was demonstrated in the summer month, preceding a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.
Now French officials will once more be allowed to intercept boats before they collect migrant passengers from the beaches of northern France, although it's uncertain how the vessels will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling networks will be seeking methods to adapt to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
The Home Office and Downing Street have been contacted for comment.
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