France will start intercepting migrant vessels in English Channel following British demands
France has agreed to begin stopping migrant vessels in the Channel, following months of pressure from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift comes after the British leader wrote to the French leader urging him to support the initiative and saying there presently "have no effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to authoritative confirmation.
French authorities have rarely acted to stop the heavily loaded boats departing from the coastline because it is considered excessively high a risk to both officers and individuals.
"It is essential that we deploy these methods this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Now, a French naval police spokesperson says personnel will begin taking action at sea, with the objective of protecting lives.
Significantly, the spokesperson ruled out the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had earlier been reported as a possible method to disable the propellers of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a significant advancement, coming after a short-lived shift towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister left government.
This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and President, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the sides of a vessel.
Now French authorities will once more be allowed to stop boats prior to they pick up asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of France's north coast, however it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are presently delaying the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be seeking ways to adapt to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the past.
The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.
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