French authorities will start stopping small boats in English Channel after UK pressure
French officials have consented to start stopping small boats in the English Channel, after months of insistence from the UK.
The change in policy comes after the British leader sent a letter to the French leader urging him to support the plan and saying there currently "have no effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French security forces will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their migrants, according to authoritative confirmation.
French authorities have rarely intervened to prevent the overcrowded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both personnel and civilians.
"It is essential that we implement these methods this month... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French naval police representative says officers will start taking action at sea, with the objective of safeguarding lives.
Significantly, the official excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had earlier been reported as a possible technique to snarl the engines of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a major advancement, coming after a brief change towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which ceased when the former Interior Minister left office.
That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when French police were observed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a boat.
Currently French officials will again be allowed to intercept boats prior to they collect migrant individuals from the coastal areas of France's north coast, although it's uncertain how the small boats will be stopped.
Strong winds are presently postponing the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling networks will be seeking methods to adapt to avoid interception, as they have done so often in the past.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been contacted for response.
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