France will start stopping small boats 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 Prime Minister wrote to the French leader asking him to support the plan and saying there presently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French security forces will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to authoritative confirmation.
French police have infrequently intervened to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as excessively high a risk to both officers and civilians.
"It is crucial that we deploy these tactics this period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French naval police representative states personnel will start taking action at sea, with the aim of safeguarding human life.
Significantly, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had earlier been reported as a possible technique to disable the engines of the vessels.
This determination to take action at all is a significant advancement, coming after a short-lived shift towards a stricter strategy this summer, which ceased when the former Interior Minister left government.
That was highlighted in July, preceding a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the hulls of a vessel.
Currently French officials will again be permitted to intercept boats before they pick up asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of France's north coast, however it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.
Strong winds are presently postponing the commencement of interceptions and the people-smuggling gangs will be looking for methods to adjust to avoid detection, as they have frequently done in the past.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been contacted for comment.
Related Developments
- Reasons Britain cannot just return asylum seekers to French territory
- France withdrawing from pledge to stop migrant boats
UK immigration
Channel crossings
Border security
