France To Toughen Action To Halt UK-Bound Channel Migrants: Official

 LILLE, France: France will soon start stopping at sea boats taking migrants across the Channel for southern England, local officials said Friday, a major change in strategy following pressure from the UK.

Almost 40,000 people have crossed the Channel aboard small boats since the start of the year, an influx of migrants that has put the UK's centre-left Labour government under pressure from the hard right.

French security forces have stepped up shore patrols to apprehend migrants on the beach, but Paris has until now been wary of halting the small boats at sea due to the risks to passengers.

France will soon begin "control and intervention operations" at sea targeting the small boats, France's maritime prefecture for the Channel and the North Sea (PREMAR) told AFP, confirming information a report in Le Monde newspaper.

The idea is to move in before passengers board the boats to avoid endangering their lives, a spokesperson for the maritime prefecture told AFP.

In a new tactic employed in recent years, people-smugglers have sent boats to pick up migrants directly in the water to evade French shore patrols.

Migrants often pay the smugglers thousands of euros per head for the crossing.

After rights groups were alarmed by press reports over the possible use of nets to stop boats, the prefecture added: "The use of nets to stop the small boats is not being considered at this stage."

At least 27 migrants have died this year attempting the crossing, according to an AFP tally based on official data.

Since January 1, more than 39,000 people have arrived on English shores in small boats, according to British government data.

This is more than the total for all of 2024, but fewer than in 2022, a record year with 45,000 successful crossings.