🔗 Share this article

French officials have consented to start stopping migrant vessels in the Channel, after months of pressure from the UK.

This policy shift comes after the Prime Minister wrote to the French leader urging him to back the initiative and stating there currently "have no effective deterrent" in the Channel.

French maritime police have been authorized to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their passengers, according to official statements.

French police have rarely intervened to prevent 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 period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters."

Now, a French maritime police representative says personnel will start taking action at sea, with the aim of protecting human life.

Notably, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had earlier been suggested as a potential technique to disable the engines of the boats.

This determination to take action at all is a major step forward, following a short-lived change towards a stricter strategy this summer, which dropped off when the previous Interior Minister departed from office.

This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and French president, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the sides of a boat.

Currently French officials will once more be permitted to stop boats prior to they collect migrant individuals from the beaches of northern France, although it's not clear how the small boats will be prevented.

Powerful gusts are presently postponing the commencement of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be looking for ways to adjust to evade interception, as they have done so often in the past.

UK immigration authorities and Downing Street have been contacted for response.

Connected Developments

• Reasons Britain cannot just send back asylum seekers to France
• France backing away from pledge to intercept migrant boats