France to begin intercepting small boats in Channel after UK pressure
France has agreed to start intercepting small boats in the Channel, following months of pressure from the UK.
This policy shift comes after the British leader sent a letter to the President asking him to back the initiative and saying there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to official confirmation.
French authorities have rarely acted to prevent the overcrowded boats departing from the shoreline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both personnel and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this month... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Now, a French maritime police spokesperson states personnel will start intervening at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.
Significantly, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been suggested as a possible method to disable the propellers of the boats.
The decision to intervene at all is a major step forward, following a brief change towards a stricter strategy this summer, which dropped off when the former government official departed from government.
This was demonstrated in the summer month, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and President, when French police were witnessed wading into the sea to damage the hulls of a vessel.
Now French officials will again be allowed to intercept boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking individuals from the beaches of France's north coast, although it's uncertain how the vessels will be prevented.
Strong winds are presently postponing the commencement of intervention operations and the people-smuggling gangs will be looking for ways to adapt to evade interception, 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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- Reasons UK can't just return asylum seekers to French territory
- French government backing away from commitment to stop migrant boats
UK immigration
Channel crossings
Border security
