France to intercept small boats after pressure from UK

Following months of pressure from the United Kingdom, France has decided to begin intercepting small boats in the Channel. According to a report in Le Monde, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wrote to President Emmanuel Macron, urging him to back the strategy and saying that we now have no efficient deterrent in the Channel. According to the maritime police force, French security forces will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only after they've picked up their passengers. Because it is deemed too dangerous to both officers and civilians, French police have seldom attempted to prevent the overcrowded boats from leaving the coast.

Sir Keir's letter read:

It is important that we deploy these tactics this month,

Le Monde said. In the Channel, we have no effective deterrent. Officers will begin operating at sea, with the intention of safeguarding human life,

a French maritime police spokesperson says. The spokesperson, notably, ruled out the use of nets to intercept boats, although Le Monde has previously stated that the boats' propellers can be used to snare the boats. Following a short-lived shift toward a more aggressive strategy this summer, led by former Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, a decision to intervene at all is a major step forward. Retailleau wanted these interceptions to begin, according to the BBC, but the government had to address the issue because of their maritime policing laws. TheBBC observed French police wading into the sea south of Boulogne to slash the sides of a boat in the run-up to Sir Keir and President Macron's summit in July. However, interventions slowed down, and it's surprising that it took so long to fix the problems that Retailleau had already identified and said he would fix. Now French officials will be able to intercept boats before they pick up migrant passengers from the beaches of northern France, although it's unclear how the tiny boats will be stopped. Strong winds are now delaying the start of interceptions, and people-smuggling gangs are likely to look for ways to prevent interception as they have done so often in the past.

We continue to work closely with our French colleagues on the common problem of illegal migration," a UK government spokesperson said, and we have already begun to ensure that French maritime experts understand their maritime tactics so they can intervene in the shallow waters.

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