French authorities will start intercepting small boats in Channel after British demands
France has agreed to begin stopping small boats in the Channel, following an extended period of insistence from the UK.
This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister sent a letter to the French leader asking him to back the initiative and saying there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've collected their migrants, according to official statements.
French authorities have rarely intervened to stop the overcrowded boats leaving the coastline because it is considered excessively high a risk to both officers and civilians.
"It is crucial that we implement these tactics this month... We have no effective prevention in the Channel."
Now, a French maritime police representative states officers will start taking action at sea, with the objective of safeguarding lives.
Significantly, the official excluded the use of nets to intercept boats, which had earlier been reported as a potential method to snarl the propellers of the vessels.
The decision to intervene at all is a significant step forward, following a short-lived shift towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which ceased when the former Interior Minister departed from government.
This was demonstrated 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 damage the sides of a vessel.
Currently French officials will once more be permitted to intercept boats before they pick up migrant individuals from the beaches of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the vessels will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are presently delaying the commencement of interceptions and the human trafficking networks will be seeking methods to adapt to evade detection, as they have done so often in the past.
The Home Office and Downing Street have been approached for response.
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