France will start stopping migrant vessels in Channel following British demands
France has agreed to start stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, after an extended period of pressure from the UK.
The change in policy comes after the Prime Minister wrote to the President asking him to back the plan and saying there presently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French security forces will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've picked up their passengers, according to authoritative confirmation.
French police have infrequently acted to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as too great a risk to both officers and civilians.
"It is crucial that we deploy these tactics this period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French naval police representative states personnel will start intervening at sea, with the objective of protecting human life.
Significantly, the official excluded the use of nets to intercept boats, which had earlier been suggested as a potential method to snarl the propellers of the vessels.
This determination to intervene at all is a major advancement, coming after a short-lived shift towards a more aggressive strategy this warmer season, which ceased when the previous Interior Minister left government.
That was highlighted in July, preceding a meeting between the Prime Minister and President, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the hulls of a vessel.
Now French officials will again be permitted to stop boats before they pick up asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of northern France, although it's not clear how the vessels will be stopped.
Strong winds are currently postponing the commencement of intervention operations and the people-smuggling networks will be seeking ways to adjust to avoid interception, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been contacted for response.
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