French authorities to begin stopping small boats in Channel following UK pressure
France has agreed to begin intercepting small boats in the Channel, after an extended period of pressure from the UK.
The change in policy comes after the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President asking him to support the initiative and stating there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
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 acted to stop the heavily loaded boats leaving the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a risk to both officers and civilians.
"It is crucial that we deploy these tactics this month... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel."
Currently, a French maritime police representative states officers will start taking action at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.
Notably, the official excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been suggested as a potential method to disable the engines of the boats.
The decision to intervene at all is a major step forward, coming after a short-lived shift towards a stricter strategy this summer, which ceased when the previous Interior Minister departed from office.
That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.
Currently French authorities will once more be permitted to intercept boats prior to they collect migrant individuals from the coastal areas of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the vessels will be prevented.
Powerful gusts are currently delaying the start of interceptions and the people-smuggling networks will be looking for methods to adapt to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.
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