🔗 Share this article

French officials have consented to start stopping migrant vessels in the Channel, following an extended period of insistence from the United Kingdom.

This policy shift follows the British leader wrote to the President urging him to back the initiative and saying there currently "have no effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage.

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

French authorities have infrequently acted to prevent the heavily loaded boats departing from the shoreline because it is viewed as too great a danger to both officers and civilians.

"It is essential that we implement these methods this month... We have zero effective deterrent in the Channel waters."

Currently, a French naval police spokesperson says personnel will begin intervening at sea, with the objective of safeguarding human life.

Notably, the official excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been reported as a potential method to snarl the engines of the vessels.

This determination to intervene at all is a significant advancement, coming after a short-lived shift towards a stricter approach this summer, which dropped off when the former Interior Minister left government.

This was demonstrated in the summer month, preceding a meeting between the Prime Minister and French president, when authorities were observed walking into the sea to damage the hulls of a vessel.

Now French officials will again be allowed to stop boats before they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the beaches of France's north coast, although it's uncertain how the small boats will be prevented.

Strong winds are currently postponing the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking networks will be seeking ways to adjust to evade detection, as they have done so often in the past.

The Home Office and Downing Street have been contacted for response.

Connected Developments

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