France will start stopping small boats in English Channel after UK pressure
France has agreed to begin intercepting small boats in the Channel, after months of pressure from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift follows the British leader sent a letter to the President asking him to back the initiative and stating there presently "lack any effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their migrants, according to authoritative confirmation.
French police have rarely acted to stop the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is considered excessively high a danger to both personnel and civilians.
"It is crucial that we deploy these methods this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel."
Currently, a French naval police spokesperson states personnel will begin intervening at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.
Notably, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been reported as a potential method to snarl the engines of the boats.
The decision to intervene 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.
This was demonstrated in the summer month, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a vessel.
Now French officials will again be allowed to stop boats prior to they pick up asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of France's north coast, however it's uncertain how the vessels will be prevented.
Powerful gusts are presently postponing the commencement of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be seeking methods to adjust to evade interception, as they have done so often in the previous instances.
The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for response.
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