France will start stopping migrant vessels in Channel following British demands
French officials have consented to begin intercepting migrant vessels in the Channel, after months of insistence from the UK.
This policy shift follows the Prime Minister wrote to the French leader urging him to support the plan and saying there presently "lack any effective deterrent" in the Channel.
French security forces will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their migrants, according to official confirmation.
French police have rarely acted to prevent the overcrowded boats departing from the coastline because it is considered excessively high a danger to both personnel and individuals.
"It is crucial that we deploy these methods this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel."
Currently, a French maritime police representative states officers will start taking action at sea, with the aim of protecting human life.
Significantly, the spokesperson ruled out the use of nets to intercept boats, which had previously been suggested as a potential method to disable the engines of the vessels.
The decision to take action at all is a major step forward, following a short-lived shift towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which ceased when the previous Interior Minister departed from government.
This was demonstrated in July, preceding a summit between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were observed wading into the sea to damage the sides of a vessel.
Now French officials will once more be allowed to stop boats before they pick up migrant passengers from the beaches of northern France, however it's uncertain how the small boats will be prevented.
Powerful gusts are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling networks will be looking for ways to adapt to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.
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