France to begin stopping migrant vessels in English Channel following British demands
French officials have consented to begin intercepting migrant vessels in the Channel, following months of pressure from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy follows the British leader wrote to the French leader urging him to back the initiative and saying there presently "have no 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 confirmation.
French police have rarely intervened to stop the overcrowded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as too great a risk to both personnel and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these methods this month... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel."
Currently, a French naval police representative says personnel will begin taking action at sea, with the objective of protecting lives.
Notably, the spokesperson ruled out the use of nets to stop boats, which had earlier been suggested as a possible method to disable the propellers of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a significant step forward, following a short-lived change towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased when the former government official departed from office.
This was demonstrated in the summer month, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when authorities were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a vessel.
Currently French officials will again be allowed to stop boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the vessels will be prevented.
Strong winds are presently postponing the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be looking for ways to adjust to evade 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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