France to begin intercepting migrant vessels in Channel after British demands
France has agreed to start intercepting small boats in the Channel, after an extended period of pressure from the UK.
The change in policy follows the Prime Minister sent a letter to the French leader urging him to back the initiative and saying there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've collected their migrants, according to official confirmation.
French authorities have rarely intervened to stop the overcrowded boats departing from 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 no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Now, a French maritime police representative states officers will begin taking action at sea, with the objective of protecting lives.
Significantly, the spokesperson ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been suggested as a possible technique to disable the engines of the boats.
The decision to take action at all is a major advancement, following a short-lived change towards a stricter approach this summer, which dropped off when the former Interior Minister left office.
This was demonstrated in the summer month, in the run-up to a summit between the UK leader and French president, when French police were witnessed wading into the sea to damage the sides of a vessel.
Now French authorities will again be allowed to intercept boats prior to they pick up asylum-seeking individuals from the beaches of northern France, although it's uncertain how the small boats will be prevented.
Strong winds are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling gangs will be seeking methods to adapt to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been approached for comment.
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