France will start intercepting small boats in Channel following UK pressure
French officials have consented to start intercepting migrant vessels in the English Channel, following months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy comes after the British leader sent a letter to the President asking him to support the initiative and stating there currently "have no effective deterrent" in the Channel.
French security forces have been authorized to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their passengers, according to authoritative statements.
French police have rarely acted to prevent the overcrowded boats leaving the shoreline because it is considered excessively high a risk to both officers and individuals.
"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French maritime police representative says personnel will start intervening 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 potential method to snarl the engines of the vessels.
This determination to take action at all is a major advancement, following a brief shift towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased when the former Interior Minister departed from government.
This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a summit between the UK leader and President, when French police were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a vessel.
Currently French authorities will once more be allowed to stop boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of France's north coast, however it's not clear how the vessels will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are presently postponing the start of interceptions and the people-smuggling gangs will be seeking methods to adjust to avoid detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.
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