France will start stopping migrant vessels in Channel after UK pressure
France has agreed to start stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, after months of insistence from the UK.
The change in policy comes after the British leader wrote to the French leader asking him to back the initiative and saying there presently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their passengers, according to authoritative statements.
French police have rarely acted to stop the overcrowded boats leaving the coastline because it is viewed as too great a risk to both officers and civilians.
"It is crucial that we deploy these methods this month... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French naval police spokesperson says officers will begin intervening at sea, with the aim of protecting lives.
Significantly, the spokesperson ruled out the use of nets to intercept boats, which had earlier been reported as a potential technique to snarl the engines of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a significant advancement, following a short-lived change towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased when the former government official departed from office.
That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were witnessed wading into the sea to damage the hulls of a boat.
Now French officials will once more be allowed to stop boats prior to they pick up asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of northern France, although it's not clear how the vessels will be prevented.
Strong winds are presently postponing the commencement of interceptions and the human trafficking gangs will be looking for methods to adjust to avoid detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for comment.
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