France to begin intercepting small boats in English Channel after British demands

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

This policy shift follows the British leader wrote to the President urging him to back the initiative and saying there presently "lack any effective preventive measure" in the Channel.

French security forces will be allowed to stop the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to authoritative statements.

French police have rarely acted to prevent the overcrowded boats leaving the coastline because it is considered excessively high a danger to both officers and individuals.

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

Now, a French maritime police spokesperson says officers will begin intervening at sea, with the objective of protecting lives.

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

The decision to intervene at all is a significant advancement, coming after a short-lived change towards a stricter strategy this summer, which ceased when the previous Interior Minister departed from government.

This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a meeting between the Prime Minister and President, when authorities were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the sides of a vessel.

Currently French authorities will once more be permitted to intercept boats before they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of northern France, however it's not clear how the small boats will be prevented.

Powerful gusts are presently delaying the start of interceptions and the people-smuggling networks will be looking for ways to adapt to evade detection, as they have done so often in the past.

UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for comment.

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