France will start intercepting small boats in Channel following British demands
French officials have consented to begin stopping migrant vessels in the Channel, after months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy follows the Prime Minister wrote to the French leader urging him to support the initiative and saying there currently "have no effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police have been authorized to intercept the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've collected their migrants, according to authoritative statements.
French police have rarely intervened to prevent the overcrowded 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 period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Now, a French maritime police spokesperson states officers will begin taking action at sea, with the aim of protecting human life.
Significantly, the spokesperson ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been suggested as a possible technique to snarl the propellers of the boats.
This determination to intervene at all is a major advancement, coming after a brief change towards a stricter approach this summer, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister departed from government.
This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and President, when French police were observed wading into the sea to slash the hulls of a vessel.
Now French officials will once more be allowed to intercept boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the vessels will be prevented.
Strong winds are presently delaying the commencement of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be looking for ways to adjust to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the past.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for response.
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