French authorities will start stopping small boats in Channel following British demands
France has agreed to start stopping migrant vessels in the Channel, after months of insistence from the UK.
The change in policy follows the British leader wrote to the President urging him to back the plan and stating there presently "have no effective deterrent" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their migrants, according to official statements.
French authorities have infrequently acted to stop the heavily loaded boats leaving the coastline because it is viewed as too great a danger to both officers and civilians.
"It is crucial that we implement these tactics this month... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel."
Currently, a French maritime police representative states officers will start intervening at sea, with the objective of safeguarding human life.
Notably, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been suggested as a potential method to snarl the propellers of the boats.
This determination to intervene at all is a significant step forward, following a brief shift towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister left government.
This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and President, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.
Currently French authorities will once more be permitted to intercept boats before they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of northern France, although it's uncertain how the small boats will be stopped.
Strong winds are currently delaying the commencement of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be looking for methods to adapt to avoid detection, as they have done so often in the past.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been contacted for comment.
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