French authorities will start intercepting migrant vessels in English Channel following UK pressure
France has agreed to begin stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, following months of pressure from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister sent a letter to the French leader urging him to support the initiative and stating there presently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French security forces will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've collected their passengers, according to authoritative statements.
French police have infrequently acted to stop the heavily loaded boats departing from the coastline because it is considered too great a risk to both officers and civilians.
"It is crucial that we implement these tactics this period... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel."
Currently, a French maritime police representative says personnel will start intervening at sea, with the aim of safeguarding lives.
Notably, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a possible technique to snarl the propellers of the boats.
The decision to take action at all is a major step forward, coming after a short-lived shift towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which dropped off when the former Interior Minister departed from government.
That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and President, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the sides of a boat.
Currently French authorities will again be allowed to intercept boats before they pick up asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of northern France, although it's not clear how the vessels will be prevented.
Strong winds are currently postponing the commencement of interceptions and the human trafficking networks will be seeking ways to adapt to avoid interception, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been approached for response.
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