French authorities will start stopping migrant vessels in Channel after British demands
French officials have consented to begin intercepting small boats in the Channel, after months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy comes after the British leader wrote to the French leader asking him to back the plan and saying there currently "have no effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to official statements.
French police have infrequently acted to stop the overcrowded boats leaving the coastline because it is considered too great a danger to both personnel and individuals.
"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel."
Currently, a French naval police spokesperson states officers will begin taking action at sea, with the aim of protecting lives.
Notably, the spokesperson excluded the use of nets to stop boats, which had previously been reported as a possible technique to disable the engines of the boats.
This determination to intervene at all is a major step forward, coming after a brief shift towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister left government.
That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and French president, when French police were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a boat.
Currently French authorities will again be allowed to stop boats before they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of France's north coast, although it's uncertain how the vessels will be prevented.
Strong winds are presently postponing the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling gangs will be seeking methods to adapt to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been approached for response.
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- Why Britain cannot just return migrants to France
- French government withdrawing from commitment to stop migrant boats
UK immigration
Channel crossings
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