France will start stopping small boats in Channel following UK pressure
France has agreed to begin intercepting migrant vessels in the English Channel, after months of pressure from the UK.
The change in policy follows the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President urging him to back the plan and saying 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 authoritative statements.
French authorities have infrequently intervened to prevent the heavily loaded boats departing from the coastline because it is viewed as too great a risk to both officers and individuals.
"It is essential that we implement these methods this month... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel."
Currently, a French maritime police spokesperson states personnel will start taking action at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.
Significantly, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a possible technique to disable the engines of the boats.
This determination to take action at all is a major step forward, following a brief change towards a more aggressive strategy this warmer season, which dropped off when the previous government official left government.
This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when authorities were observed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.
Currently French officials will again be permitted to stop boats before they collect migrant passengers from the beaches of northern France, although it's not clear how the vessels will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are currently postponing the commencement of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be seeking methods to adjust to evade interception, as they have done so often in the previous instances.
The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for response.
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