France will start stopping migrant vessels in Channel following UK pressure
France has agreed to start stopping small boats in the Channel, after months of pressure from the UK.
This policy shift comes after the British leader wrote to the President urging him to back the plan and stating there currently "have no effective deterrent" in the Channel.
French maritime police have been authorized to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their passengers, according to official statements.
French authorities have rarely intervened to prevent the overcrowded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as too great a danger to both personnel and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these methods this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel."
Currently, a French naval police representative says officers will begin intervening at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.
Significantly, the official excluded the use of nets to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a potential method to disable the propellers of the boats.
This determination to take action at all is a major step forward, following a brief shift towards a more aggressive approach this warmer season, which ceased when the previous Interior Minister left government.
That was highlighted in the summer month, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and President, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the sides of a vessel.
Currently French officials will once more be allowed to stop boats before they pick up asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of France's north coast, however it's uncertain how the vessels will be stopped.
Strong winds are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling networks will be looking for methods to adjust to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for comment.
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