France to begin stopping small boats in English Channel after UK pressure
French officials have consented to start intercepting small boats in the English Channel, after an extended period of pressure from the UK.
This policy shift follows the Prime Minister sent a letter to the French leader asking him to support the initiative and saying there currently "have no effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've collected their migrants, according to official statements.
French police have rarely acted to stop the overcrowded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as excessively high a risk to both officers and individuals.
"It is crucial that we deploy these tactics this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel."
Currently, a French maritime police representative states officers will begin intervening at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.
Significantly, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been reported as a possible technique to snarl the engines of the vessels.
The decision to intervene at all is a major step forward, following a short-lived shift towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which dropped off when the former government official left office.
This was demonstrated in July, preceding a meeting between the Prime Minister and President, when authorities were observed wading into the sea to damage the sides of a boat.
Now French authorities will once more be allowed to stop boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.
Strong winds are currently postponing the commencement of interceptions and the human trafficking networks will be seeking methods to adapt to avoid interception, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for response.
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- Reasons UK cannot just return asylum seekers to France
- France withdrawing from pledge to stop asylum boats
UK immigration
Channel crossings
Border security