France will start stopping migrant vessels in Channel following British demands
French officials have consented to start intercepting small boats in the English Channel, after months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift follows the British leader sent a letter to the French leader asking him to support the plan and saying there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police have been authorized to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to authoritative statements.
French police have infrequently acted to prevent the overcrowded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as excessively high a risk to both officers and civilians.
"It is essential that we implement these methods this month... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Now, a French maritime police spokesperson states personnel will begin taking action at sea, with the aim of safeguarding lives.
Significantly, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been suggested as a possible method to snarl the engines of the boats.
This determination to take action at all is a major step forward, coming after a brief shift towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which dropped off when the former Interior Minister departed from office.
That was highlighted in July, preceding a summit between the UK leader and French president, when French police were observed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a boat.
Currently French officials will once more be allowed to intercept boats before 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 presently delaying the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling networks will be seeking methods to adjust to avoid detection, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been approached for response.
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- Reasons UK cannot just send back migrants to France
- French government withdrawing from pledge to intercept asylum boats
UK immigration
Channel crossings
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