France to begin stopping migrant vessels in Channel after UK pressure
France has agreed to start stopping small boats in the English Channel, following months of pressure from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift follows the Prime Minister sent a letter to the French leader asking him to back the initiative and stating there presently "have no effective deterrent" in the Channel.
French security forces have been authorized to intercept the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their passengers, according to authoritative statements.
French authorities have infrequently acted to stop the heavily loaded boats departing from the shoreline because it is viewed as excessively high a risk to both personnel and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this month... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel waters."
Now, a French naval police spokesperson says officers will begin intervening at sea, with the aim of safeguarding lives.
Notably, the official excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been reported as a potential method to disable the propellers of the vessels.
The decision to take action at all is a significant advancement, following a brief change towards a more aggressive strategy this warmer season, which dropped off when the former government official left office.
This was demonstrated in July, 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 sides of a vessel.
Now French authorities will once more be allowed to stop boats before they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the small boats will be prevented.
Strong winds are presently delaying the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be looking for methods to adapt to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the past.
The Home Office and Downing Street have been approached for response.
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