🔗 Share this article

France has agreed to begin stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, after months of pressure from the United Kingdom.

This policy shift follows the British leader wrote to the President urging him to support the initiative and stating there currently "lack any effective deterrent" in the Channel.

French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but exclusively prior to they've picked up their migrants, according to authoritative confirmation.

French police have infrequently intervened to stop the overcrowded boats departing from the coastline because it is viewed as too great a danger to both officers and individuals.

"It is essential that we deploy these tactics this month... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel."

Currently, a French naval police spokesperson says personnel will start intervening at sea, with the aim of protecting lives.

Notably, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to stop boats, which had previously been suggested as a potential method to snarl the engines of the vessels.

The decision to intervene at all is a significant advancement, coming after a brief change towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased when the former government official departed from government.

That was highlighted in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when French police were observed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a boat.

Currently French officials will once more be allowed to intercept boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the vessels will be prevented.

Powerful gusts are currently postponing the commencement of intervention operations and the people-smuggling networks will be seeking methods to adjust to evade interception, as they have frequently done in the past.

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

Connected Developments

• Why Britain cannot just send back migrants to France
• France backing away from pledge to stop migrant boats