France to begin stopping small boats in Channel after British demands
France has agreed to begin stopping migrant vessels in the Channel, following months of pressure from the UK.
The change in policy follows the Prime Minister wrote to the French leader asking him to back the initiative and saying there presently "have no effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French security forces will be allowed to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their migrants, according to authoritative confirmation.
French authorities have infrequently acted to prevent the overcrowded boats leaving the coastline because it is viewed as too great a risk to both personnel and individuals.
"It is crucial that we implement these tactics this period... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French maritime police spokesperson says officers will begin intervening at sea, with the objective of safeguarding lives.
Notably, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been reported as a possible technique to disable the engines of the vessels.
The decision to intervene at all is a significant step forward, coming after a brief change towards a more aggressive strategy this warmer season, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister departed from government.
That was highlighted in July, preceding a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the hulls of a boat.
Currently French officials will again be allowed to stop boats before they pick up asylum-seeking individuals from the beaches of northern France, although it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.
Powerful gusts are presently postponing the commencement of interceptions and the human trafficking networks will be looking for methods to adjust to evade detection, as they have frequently done in the past.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been approached for response.
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