France will start intercepting migrant vessels in English Channel after UK pressure
France has agreed to start intercepting small boats in the Channel, following months of pressure from the UK.
This policy shift follows the British leader wrote to the French leader asking him to support the initiative and saying there currently "have no effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.
French security forces have been authorized to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their migrants, according to official confirmation.
French police have infrequently acted to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the coastline because it is considered too great a risk to both officers and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these methods this month... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel."
Currently, a French maritime police representative says officers will start taking action at sea, with the aim of protecting lives.
Notably, the official excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a possible method to disable the propellers of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a significant advancement, coming after a short-lived change towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which dropped off when the previous government official left government.
That was highlighted in the summer month, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a vessel.
Now French authorities will once more be allowed to stop boats prior to they pick up asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of northern France, although it's uncertain how the small boats will be stopped.
Strong winds are currently postponing the commencement of intervention operations and the people-smuggling gangs will be looking for methods to adapt to evade interception, as they have done so often in the previous instances.
The Home Office and Downing Street have been approached for comment.
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