France will start intercepting migrant vessels in Channel after British demands
France has agreed to begin intercepting migrant vessels in the Channel, after months of pressure from the UK.
This policy shift follows the Prime Minister sent a letter to the President urging him to support the initiative and stating there presently "have no effective deterrent" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their migrants, according to authoritative statements.
French police have rarely intervened to stop the heavily loaded boats departing from the shoreline because it is considered excessively high a risk to both personnel and civilians.
"It is crucial that we implement these tactics this period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French maritime police representative says officers will start intervening at sea, with the objective of safeguarding lives.
Notably, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been suggested as a potential technique to snarl the propellers of the vessels.
This determination to take action at all is a major advancement, coming after a brief shift towards a stricter strategy this summer, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister departed from government.
This was demonstrated in the summer month, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and President, when authorities were observed wading into the sea to slash the hulls of a vessel.
Currently French officials will again be permitted to stop boats before they collect migrant passengers from the coastal areas of northern France, however it's not clear how the vessels will be prevented.
Powerful gusts are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be looking for methods to adjust to avoid detection, as they have frequently done in the past.
The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.
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