France will start stopping small boats in Channel following UK pressure
French officials have consented to begin intercepting migrant vessels in the English Channel, after months of pressure from the UK.
This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister wrote to the French leader asking him to back the plan and stating there presently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've collected their migrants, 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 danger to both personnel and individuals.
"It is essential that we deploy these methods this month... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel."
Now, a French naval police spokesperson says officers will begin intervening at sea, with the aim of safeguarding human life.
Significantly, the official ruled out the use of nets to stop boats, which had previously been reported as a possible method to snarl the propellers of the boats.
This determination to intervene at all is a major advancement, coming after a brief shift towards a stricter strategy this summer, which ceased when the previous government official departed from office.
That was highlighted in the summer month, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and President, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the sides of a boat.
Currently French officials will once more be allowed to intercept boats prior to they pick up migrant individuals from the coastal areas of France's north coast, however it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are currently postponing the commencement of intervention operations and the people-smuggling gangs will be seeking ways to adapt to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the past.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been approached for response.
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