🔗 Share this article France to begin intercepting small boats in English Channel following UK pressure France has agreed to begin stopping migrant vessels in the Channel, after an extended period of pressure from the United Kingdom. The change in policy comes after the British leader wrote to the President urging him to support the plan and stating there currently "have no effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage. French maritime police will be allowed to intercept the migrant vessels at sea, but only before they've collected their passengers, according to official confirmation. 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." Currently, a French naval police spokesperson says personnel will start taking action at sea, with the aim of safeguarding lives. Notably, the official excluded the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had earlier been reported as a potential technique to snarl the propellers of the vessels. The decision to intervene at all is a significant advancement, coming after a brief shift towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased when the former government official departed from office. This was demonstrated in July, in the run-up to a summit between the Prime Minister and President, when authorities were observed wading into the sea to slash the sides of a vessel. Now French authorities will once more be permitted to intercept boats prior to they collect asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the small boats will be prevented. Strong winds are presently delaying the start of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be seeking methods to adjust to avoid detection, as they have done so often in the past. UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been contacted for response. Related Developments Reasons UK cannot just return asylum seekers to France French government withdrawing from commitment to intercept asylum boats UK immigration Channel crossings Border security