French authorities will start stopping small boats in English Channel following British demands
French officials have consented to start stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, after an extended period of insistence from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy comes after the British leader sent a letter to the President urging him to back the plan and stating there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their passengers, according to official confirmation.
French authorities have rarely intervened to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both personnel and individuals.
"It is essential that we implement these methods this month... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French naval police spokesperson says officers will start taking action at sea, with the objective of safeguarding lives.
Significantly, the official excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had earlier been suggested as a possible technique to snarl the propellers of the boats.
The decision to intervene at all is a major step forward, following a short-lived change towards a more aggressive approach this summer, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister departed from office.
This was demonstrated in the summer month, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and President, when French police were observed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a vessel.
Currently French officials will again be permitted to intercept boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking individuals from the coastal areas of France's north coast, however it's not clear how the vessels will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are currently delaying the commencement of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be seeking methods to adjust to evade detection, as they have done so often in the past.
The Home Office and Downing Street have been approached for comment.
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