France to begin stopping small boats in English Channel after UK pressure
France has agreed to start stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, after months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy follows the British leader wrote to the President asking him to support the initiative and saying there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've collected their migrants, according to authoritative confirmation.
French authorities have rarely intervened to stop the heavily loaded boats leaving the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a risk to both personnel and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this month... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel."
Currently, a French maritime police spokesperson says officers will start taking action at sea, with the aim of safeguarding human life.
Significantly, the spokesperson ruled out the use of nets to stop boats, which had previously been suggested as a possible technique to snarl the engines of the vessels.
The decision to take action at all is a significant step forward, following a short-lived change towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which ceased when the former government official left government.
That was highlighted in July, preceding a summit between the UK leader and President, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the hulls of a vessel.
Currently French authorities will again be permitted to intercept boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of France's north coast, however it's uncertain how the small boats will be stopped.
Strong winds are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be seeking ways to adjust to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the past.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been contacted for response.
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