🔗 Share this article France will start intercepting small boats in Channel after British demands French officials have consented to start stopping migrant vessels in the English Channel, after an extended period of pressure from the United Kingdom. This policy shift follows the British leader wrote to the French leader asking him to support the plan and saying there presently "have no effective preventive measure" in the maritime passage. French security forces will be allowed to intercept the small boats at sea, but exclusively prior to they've collected their migrants, according to official statements. French authorities have rarely acted to stop the overcrowded boats leaving the shoreline because it is considered excessively high a danger to both personnel and individuals. "It is essential that we implement these methods this period... We have no effective prevention in the Channel waters." Currently, a French naval police spokesperson states personnel will start taking action at sea, with the objective of protecting lives. Notably, the official ruled out the use of entanglement devices to intercept boats, which had previously been suggested as a potential method to disable the engines of the vessels. The decision to take action at all is a significant advancement, following a short-lived change towards a more aggressive strategy this summer, which ceased when the former government official left office. This was demonstrated in the summer month, in the run-up to a meeting between the UK leader and French president, when French police were witnessed walking into the sea to damage the sides of a vessel. Currently French authorities will again be permitted to intercept boats before they pick up asylum-seeking passengers from the coastal areas of France's north coast, although it's not clear how the small boats will be stopped. Strong winds are currently postponing the commencement of intervention operations and the human trafficking gangs will be looking for ways to adapt to avoid interception, as they have done so often in the past. UK immigration authorities and the Prime Minister's office have been approached for comment. Related Developments Reasons Britain can't just return migrants to French territory France withdrawing from pledge to stop asylum boats UK immigration Channel crossings Border security