France will start stopping migrant vessels in Channel after UK pressure
French officials have consented to begin intercepting migrant vessels in the Channel, following months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister sent a letter to the French leader asking him to support the plan and saying there currently "have no effective deterrent" in the Channel.
French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their passengers, according to official confirmation.
French police have infrequently intervened to prevent the overcrowded boats leaving the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both personnel and civilians.
"It is essential that we deploy these methods this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French maritime police spokesperson says officers will begin intervening at sea, with the aim of protecting lives.
Significantly, the official excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been reported as a possible method to disable the propellers of the vessels.
This determination to take action at all is a significant advancement, following a short-lived change towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased when the previous government official left government.
That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the hulls of a vessel.
Currently French authorities will again be allowed to intercept boats before they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of northern France, however it's uncertain how the vessels will be prevented.
Strong winds are currently postponing the commencement of interceptions and the human trafficking networks will be seeking methods to adapt to avoid detection, as they have done so often in the previous instances.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for response.
Connected Developments
- Why UK can't just send back asylum seekers to French territory
- French government backing away from pledge to intercept migrant boats
UK immigration
Channel crossings
Border security
