🔗 Share this article

France has agreed to start stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, following an extended period of pressure from the UK.

This policy shift follows the British leader wrote to the President asking him to support the initiative and stating there currently "have no effective preventive measure" in the Channel.

French security forces will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their passengers, according to authoritative statements.

French police have rarely intervened to prevent the heavily loaded boats leaving the shoreline because it is considered excessively high a danger to both personnel and civilians.

"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this period... We have zero effective prevention in the Channel waters."

Now, a French naval police representative states officers will begin intervening at sea, with the aim of safeguarding lives.

Significantly, the spokesperson excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had earlier been reported as a possible method to disable the propellers of the vessels.

The decision to take action at all is a significant advancement, coming after a short-lived shift towards a stricter strategy this warmer season, which dropped off when the former government official departed from office.

That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and President, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to slash the hulls of a boat.

Now French officials will again be allowed to intercept boats before they collect migrant individuals from the coastal areas of northern France, however it's uncertain how the vessels will be stopped.

Strong winds are presently delaying the start of intervention operations and the people-smuggling gangs will be looking for methods to adapt to evade interception, as they have done so often in the past.

The Home Office and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for response.

Connected Updates

• Reasons UK cannot just send back migrants to France
• French government backing away from commitment to stop migrant boats