France will start stopping migrant vessels in Channel after British demands
France has agreed to begin stopping small boats in the English Channel, after months of pressure from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift comes after the British leader sent a letter to the President urging him to support the plan and stating there currently "have no effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French security forces will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their passengers, according to official confirmation.
French police have rarely acted to prevent the overcrowded boats departing from the shoreline because it is viewed as too great a risk to both officers and civilians.
"It is crucial that we implement these methods this period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French naval police spokesperson states personnel will begin intervening at sea, with the objective of safeguarding lives.
Significantly, the spokesperson ruled out the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a potential technique to disable the propellers of the boats.
This determination to take action at all is a major advancement, coming after a short-lived change towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which dropped off when the former government official left government.
This was demonstrated in the summer month, in the run-up to a summit between the UK leader and French president, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the sides of a boat.
Now French officials will once more be permitted to stop boats prior to they collect migrant individuals from the beaches of northern France, however it's not clear how the vessels will be prevented.
Strong winds are presently postponing the commencement of intervention operations and the people-smuggling gangs will be seeking ways to adjust to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the past.
The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for comment.
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