France to begin stopping migrant vessels in English Channel following British demands
France has agreed to begin stopping small boats in the Channel, after an extended period of insistence from the UK.
The change in policy follows the Prime Minister sent a letter to the French leader asking him to back the initiative and saying there currently "have no effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.
French security forces will be allowed to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've collected their migrants, according to official confirmation.
French authorities have rarely acted to stop the heavily loaded boats departing from the shoreline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both personnel and individuals.
"It is essential that we deploy these methods this month... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Now, a French maritime police spokesperson says personnel will begin taking action at sea, with the objective of safeguarding lives.
Significantly, the official ruled out the use of nets to intercept boats, which had earlier been suggested as a possible method to snarl the engines of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a major advancement, coming after a brief change towards a stricter strategy this summer, which dropped off when the previous government official left office.
That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when French police were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the hulls of a vessel.
Now French officials will again be allowed to stop boats before they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of northern France, although it's not clear how the vessels will be prevented.
Strong winds are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be looking for methods to adapt to evade interception, as they have done so often in the previous instances.
The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for response.
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