France to begin intercepting migrant vessels in Channel following UK pressure
France has agreed to begin intercepting small boats in the English Channel, after an extended period of insistence from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister wrote to the President asking him to support the initiative and stating there presently "have no effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French security forces will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've collected their migrants, according to official confirmation.
French police have rarely intervened to prevent the overcrowded boats departing from the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both officers and individuals.
"It is essential that we implement these tactics this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel."
Currently, a French maritime police spokesperson states officers will begin taking action at sea, with the objective of safeguarding lives.
Notably, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been suggested as a possible method to disable the engines of the boats.
The decision to take action at all is a significant advancement, coming after a brief change towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which dropped off when the previous government official departed from office.
This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and President, when authorities were observed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.
Currently French authorities will again be allowed to stop boats before they pick up asylum-seeking individuals from the beaches of France's north coast, although it's uncertain how the small boats will be prevented.
Strong winds are presently postponing the commencement of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be seeking methods to adjust to evade detection, as they have done so often in the previous instances.
The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.
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