France will start stopping migrant vessels in English Channel following UK pressure
French officials have consented to begin stopping small boats in the English Channel, after an extended period of pressure from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift follows the Prime Minister wrote to the President urging him to support the initiative and stating there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" 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 authoritative statements.
French police have rarely acted to prevent the overcrowded boats departing from the shoreline because it is viewed as too great a danger to both officers and civilians.
"It is crucial that we implement these methods this month... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel."
Now, a French maritime police representative states officers will begin taking action at sea, with the aim of protecting lives.
Significantly, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had earlier been reported as a potential method to snarl the propellers of the vessels.
The decision to intervene at all is a significant step forward, following a brief change towards a more aggressive 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 meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when French police were witnessed wading into the sea to damage the sides of a vessel.
Currently French officials will again be permitted to intercept boats before they pick up migrant individuals from the coastal areas of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the vessels will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be seeking methods to adjust to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the past.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been contacted for comment.
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