🔗 Share this article

France has agreed to start intercepting small boats in the English Channel, following months of pressure from the UK.

This policy shift follows the British leader wrote to the President asking him to back the initiative and stating there currently "lack any effective deterrent" in the maritime passage.

French security forces have been authorized to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to official confirmation.

French police have infrequently acted to stop the overcrowded boats departing from the coastline because it is viewed as excessively high a risk to both personnel and individuals.

"It is crucial that we implement these methods this period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel."

Now, a French maritime police representative states officers will begin taking action at sea, with the aim of safeguarding human life.

Notably, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been suggested as a potential method to snarl the propellers of the vessels.

This determination to intervene at all is a major advancement, following a short-lived change towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased when the former Interior Minister left government.

That was highlighted in the summer month, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and French president, when French police were witnessed wading into the sea to slash the hulls of a vessel.

Currently French officials will again be allowed to intercept boats before they pick up asylum-seeking individuals from the beaches of northern France, however it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped.

Strong winds are currently delaying the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking 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.

Connected Updates

• Reasons UK can't just return migrants to France
• French government backing away from pledge to intercept asylum boats