France will start intercepting small boats in Channel following UK pressure
French officials have consented to begin stopping small boats in the Channel, following an extended period of insistence from the UK.
This policy shift comes after the British leader wrote to the President asking him to back the initiative and stating there presently "have no effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police have been authorized to stop the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their passengers, according to authoritative confirmation.
French police have rarely intervened to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the coastline because it is considered excessively high a danger to both personnel and individuals.
"It is crucial that we implement these methods this month... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel waters."
Now, a French maritime police representative says officers will start taking action at sea, with the aim of protecting lives.
Significantly, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a possible technique to snarl the engines of the boats.
This determination to intervene at all is a significant step forward, following a short-lived shift towards a stricter strategy this summer, which ceased when the previous Interior Minister departed from office.
This was demonstrated in July, preceding a meeting between the Prime Minister 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 permitted to stop boats prior to they collect migrant passengers from the beaches of northern France, although it's uncertain how the small boats will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are presently postponing the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be looking for methods to adapt to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
The Home Office and Downing Street have been approached for comment.
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