France will start stopping migrant vessels in English Channel after UK pressure
French officials have consented to start stopping migrant vessels in the Channel, after months of pressure from the UK.
The change in policy follows the British leader sent a letter to the President urging him to support the plan and saying there presently "have no effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their passengers, according to official confirmation.
French police have infrequently acted to prevent the heavily loaded boats departing from the coastline because it is considered excessively high a risk to both personnel and individuals.
"It is essential that we deploy these methods this month... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel."
Currently, a French naval police spokesperson states officers will start intervening at sea, with the objective of safeguarding lives.
Significantly, the spokesperson ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop 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 advancement, following a short-lived shift towards a stricter strategy this warmer season, which dropped off when the former government official departed from office.
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 sides of a boat.
Currently French officials will again be permitted to stop boats before they pick up asylum-seeking individuals from the beaches of northern France, however it's uncertain how the vessels will be prevented.
Strong winds are presently postponing the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be seeking methods to adjust to avoid interception, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for response.
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