France will start stopping migrant vessels in Channel after British demands
French officials have consented to begin stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, following months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift follows the Prime Minister wrote to the French leader urging him to back the plan and saying there currently "lack any effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.
French security forces will be allowed to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their migrants, according to authoritative confirmation.
French authorities have rarely intervened to stop the heavily loaded boats departing from the shoreline because it is considered excessively high a danger to both personnel and civilians.
"It is crucial that we implement these methods this month... We have no effective prevention in the Channel."
Currently, a French naval police representative states personnel will begin intervening at sea, with the aim of safeguarding lives.
Notably, the official excluded the use of nets to stop boats, which had earlier been reported as a potential technique to disable the propellers of the vessels.
This determination to take action at all is a significant advancement, coming after a short-lived shift towards a more aggressive strategy this warmer season, which ceased when the former Interior Minister departed from office.
That was highlighted in July, preceding a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when authorities were observed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a vessel.
Now French officials will again be permitted to intercept boats prior to they pick up asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of northern France, however it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are currently postponing the start of interceptions and the human trafficking gangs will be seeking methods to adjust to avoid detection, as they have frequently done in the past.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for comment.
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