French authorities to begin stopping small boats in English Channel following UK pressure
France has agreed to start stopping small boats in the English Channel, after months of pressure from the UK.
This policy shift comes after the British leader wrote to the President asking him to back the initiative and saying 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 passengers, according to official confirmation.
French police have infrequently acted to prevent the overcrowded boats departing from the coastline because it is considered excessively high a risk to both officers and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these methods this month... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French naval police spokesperson says officers will begin taking action at sea, with the objective of safeguarding human life.
Notably, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been suggested as a possible method to disable the engines of the vessels.
The decision to intervene at all is a major step forward, coming after a brief change towards a stricter approach this summer, which dropped off when the previous government official left office.
This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were observed wading into the sea to damage the sides of a vessel.
Currently French officials will once more be permitted to stop boats before they pick up migrant individuals from the beaches of France's north coast, however it's uncertain how the vessels will be prevented.
Powerful gusts are currently postponing the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be looking for methods to adjust to evade detection, as they have done so often in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for response.
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