France will start stopping small boats in English Channel after UK pressure
French officials have consented to start intercepting small boats in the Channel, after months of insistence from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy comes after the British leader sent a letter to the President asking him to back the initiative and saying there presently "have no effective deterrent" in the Channel.
French security forces have been authorized to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to official confirmation.
French police have rarely acted to stop the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is viewed as excessively high a risk to both personnel and individuals.
"It is essential that we implement these tactics this month... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French maritime police representative says personnel will start taking action at sea, with the aim of protecting lives.
Significantly, the official ruled out the use of nets to stop boats, which had previously been suggested as a potential method to disable the engines of the vessels.
This determination to take action at all is a significant step forward, coming after a brief shift towards a stricter strategy this summer, which dropped off when the previous government official departed from government.
That was highlighted in July, preceding a summit between the UK leader and President, when French police were observed wading into the sea to damage the hulls of a boat.
Currently French authorities will once more be allowed to intercept boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of France's north coast, although it's uncertain how the vessels will be stopped.
Strong winds are presently postponing the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling networks will be looking for ways to adapt 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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