France will start stopping migrant vessels in English Channel following UK pressure
French officials have consented to begin stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, after an extended period of insistence from the United Kingdom.
This policy shift follows the Prime Minister wrote to the President asking him to back the initiative and saying there currently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.
French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but only before they've collected their migrants, according to official confirmation.
French police have rarely intervened to stop the heavily loaded boats departing from the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a danger to both personnel and civilians.
"It is essential that we implement these methods this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel waters."
Now, a French naval police spokesperson says officers will start intervening at sea, with the aim of safeguarding human life.
Notably, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a potential technique to disable the propellers of the vessels.
The decision to intervene at all is a major advancement, following a short-lived change towards a stricter strategy this summer, which dropped off when the former Interior Minister left government.
That was highlighted in the summer month, preceding a summit between the Prime Minister and President, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a vessel.
Currently French authorities will again be allowed to stop boats before they pick up asylum-seeking individuals from the coastal areas of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the small boats will be prevented.
Powerful gusts are currently postponing the start of interceptions and the people-smuggling networks will be looking for ways to adjust to avoid detection, as they have frequently done in the past.
UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for comment.
Connected Developments
- Reasons UK cannot just return asylum seekers to French territory
- France withdrawing from commitment to intercept asylum boats
UK immigration
Channel crossings
Border security
