French authorities to begin stopping migrant vessels in Channel following UK pressure
France has agreed to start intercepting migrant vessels in the English Channel, after months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President asking him to back the initiative and stating there presently "have no effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
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 statements.
French police have infrequently intervened to stop the overcrowded boats leaving the coastline because it is considered too great a danger to both officers and civilians.
"It is essential that we implement these methods this period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel."
Currently, a French naval police spokesperson says officers will start intervening at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.
Notably, the official ruled out the use of nets to stop boats, which had previously been reported as a possible technique to snarl the engines of the vessels.
The decision to intervene at all is a major step forward, following a short-lived change towards a stricter strategy this warmer season, which ceased when the former government official departed from government.
That was highlighted in the summer month, in the run-up to a summit between the UK leader and President, when French police were witnessed wading into the sea to damage the sides of a vessel.
Now French authorities will once more be allowed to intercept boats before they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of northern France, however it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are currently postponing the commencement of interceptions and the human trafficking networks will be seeking methods to adapt to evade interception, as they have done so often in the past.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.
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- Why Britain cannot just return migrants to French territory
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