French authorities will start stopping small boats in English Channel after UK pressure
French officials have consented to start stopping migrant vessels in the Channel, after months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift follows the Prime Minister sent a letter to the French leader asking him to support the initiative and saying there currently "have no effective deterrent" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their passengers, according to official confirmation.
French police have infrequently acted to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the coastline because it is considered excessively high a risk to both personnel and civilians.
"It is crucial that we implement these tactics this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel."
Currently, a French naval police representative says officers will start intervening at sea, with the aim of protecting human life.
Significantly, the spokesperson excluded the use of nets to stop boats, which had previously been reported as a potential method to snarl the propellers of the boats.
The decision to intervene at all is a significant advancement, coming after a short-lived change towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which ceased when the previous government official left government.
That was highlighted in July, preceding a summit between the UK leader and French president, when authorities were observed walking into the sea to damage the hulls of a boat.
Currently French officials will again be allowed to intercept boats prior to they pick up asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of northern France, however it's not clear how the vessels 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 done so often in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been approached for comment.
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