French authorities to begin intercepting small boats in English Channel after British demands
France has agreed to start intercepting small boats in the English Channel, after an extended period of pressure from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift follows the Prime Minister wrote to the French leader urging him to support the plan and stating there presently "have no effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.
French security forces will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've collected their migrants, according to official confirmation.
French police have rarely intervened to stop the heavily loaded boats departing from the shoreline because it is considered excessively high a risk to both officers and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these methods this period... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel."
Currently, a French maritime police representative says personnel will start intervening at sea, with the objective of protecting lives.
Notably, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a potential method to snarl the engines of the vessels.
The decision to intervene at all is a significant advancement, coming after a short-lived change towards a stricter approach this summer, which ceased when the former government official departed from government.
That was highlighted in July, preceding a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when authorities were observed wading into the sea to damage the sides of a vessel.
Now French authorities will once more be permitted to intercept boats before they pick up asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of France's north coast, however it's uncertain how the small boats will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling networks will be seeking methods to adjust to evade detection, as they have done so often in the past.
The Home Office and Downing Street have been contacted for comment.
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