France to begin intercepting migrant vessels in Channel after British demands
France has agreed to start stopping small boats in the English Channel, following months of pressure from the UK.
The change in policy follows the British leader wrote to the French leader asking him to support the initiative and stating there currently "have no effective deterrent" in the Channel.
French security forces will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their migrants, according to official confirmation.
French police have infrequently intervened 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 implement these tactics this period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Now, a French naval police representative says officers will begin taking action at sea, with the objective of safeguarding lives.
Notably, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a possible technique to snarl the engines of the boats.
This determination to take action at all is a major step forward, coming after a brief change towards a more aggressive strategy this warmer season, which dropped off when the previous government official left office.
This was demonstrated in the summer month, in the run-up to a summit between the UK leader and President, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the hulls of a boat.
Currently French authorities will once more be permitted to stop boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of northern France, however it's not clear how the vessels will be stopped.
Strong winds are presently postponing the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling networks will be looking for methods to adapt to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the past.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been approached for response.
Related Developments
- Why Britain cannot just send back asylum seekers to France
- French government backing away from commitment to stop asylum boats
UK immigration
Channel crossings
Border security
