French authorities will start intercepting small boats in Channel after British demands
France has agreed to begin stopping small boats in the English Channel, following an extended period of insistence from the United Kingdom.
The change in policy follows the Prime Minister sent a letter to the French leader urging him to support the initiative and saying there currently "have no effective preventive measure" in the Channel.
French security forces have been authorized to intercept the small boats at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to authoritative statements.
French authorities have infrequently acted to stop the heavily loaded boats departing from the coastline because it is considered too great a risk to both personnel and civilians.
"It is essential that we implement these tactics this month... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Currently, a French naval police spokesperson states personnel will start taking action at sea, with the objective of safeguarding lives.
Significantly, the official excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been suggested as a possible technique to snarl the propellers of the vessels.
This determination to take action at all is a significant advancement, following a short-lived shift towards a stricter strategy this warmer season, which dropped off when the former government official left office.
This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a summit between the UK leader and French president, when French police were observed walking into the sea to slash the sides of a boat.
Currently French authorities will once more be allowed to intercept boats before they collect migrant passengers from the beaches of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the vessels will be stopped.
Strong winds are presently postponing the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be seeking methods to adjust to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the previous instances.
The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for comment.
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