French authorities to begin intercepting small boats in Channel after British demands
France has agreed to start stopping small boats in the English Channel, following months of insistence from the UK.
This policy shift follows the British leader wrote to the President asking him to back the plan and stating there presently "have no effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've picked up their passengers, according to authoritative confirmation.
French authorities have rarely intervened to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is considered excessively high a danger to both personnel and individuals.
"It is essential that we implement these methods this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel."
Now, a French naval police representative says officers will start intervening at sea, with the aim of safeguarding human life.
Notably, the spokesperson excluded the use of nets to stop boats, which had previously been suggested as a possible method to disable the propellers of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a major advancement, following a brief change towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased when the former government official left government.
That was highlighted in the summer month, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the sides of a vessel.
Now French authorities will once more be allowed to intercept boats before they pick up asylum-seeking individuals from the coastal areas of northern France, although it's uncertain how the vessels will be prevented.
Powerful gusts are currently postponing the commencement of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be looking for methods to adjust to avoid detection, as they have frequently done in the past.
The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for response.
Connected Developments
- Reasons Britain can't just send back migrants to French territory
- France withdrawing from pledge to stop migrant boats
UK immigration
Channel crossings
Border security
