France will start stopping migrant vessels in Channel following UK pressure
French officials have consented to begin intercepting migrant vessels in the Channel, after an extended period of insistence from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy comes after the Prime Minister wrote to the President asking him to support the initiative and stating there currently "lack any effective deterrent" in the Channel.
French security forces will be allowed to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to official confirmation.
French police have rarely intervened to prevent the overcrowded boats leaving the coastline because it is viewed as too great a risk to both personnel and civilians.
"It is crucial that we deploy these tactics this period... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel."
Currently, a French maritime police representative states personnel will start taking action at sea, with the aim of safeguarding human life.
Significantly, the official ruled out the use of nets to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a potential method to snarl the engines of the boats.
This determination to take action at all is a significant advancement, coming after a brief shift towards a stricter strategy this summer, which dropped off when the former government official departed from government.
This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were observed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.
Now French authorities will again be allowed to intercept boats prior to they pick up migrant passengers from the beaches of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the vessels will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be seeking 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 response.
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