France finally agrees to intercept migrant boats at sea - months after deal to stop crossings agreed
France has finally agreed to draw up a plan to stop small boats at sea by the summer, after police were criticised for standing by as people smugglers picked up migrants.
The French government is understood to be enlarging its Navy with new patrol boats that could intercept so-called 'taxi boats' before they leave for the UK.
The strategy is designed to be ready before French President Emmanuel Macron travels to London for a Franco-British summit on July 8.
It comes after a furious row erupted over the lack of action as more than 1,000 people crossed the English Channel on Saturday.
French police officers were seen watching as migrants, including children, boarded at a beach in Gravelines, between Calais and Dunkirk, while authorities were then pictured escorting the boats.
Defence Secretary John Healey hit out at their failure to act – as he said at the weekend that Britain had 'lost control of its borders'.
Ministers have been pressing the French government to put new rules, agreed months ago with the Labour government after they came into power, into operation that would allow them to intervene.
On Sunday, Mr Healey said: 'They're not doing it, but for the first time for years, we've got the level of cooperation needed… We've got the agreement that they will change the way they work, and our concentration now is to push them to get that into operation so they can intercept these smugglers and stop these people in the boats, not just on the shore.'
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has also demanded the French start intercepting migrant boats at sea 'as swiftly as possible' after it emerged that a record 1,195 migrants reached the UK in 19 dinghies on Saturday. The figures brought the total so far this year to 14,812 - the highest on record.
A French interior ministry source told The Telegraph: 'We are aware of the high stakes involved in interventions at sea and of the need to adapt our doctrine of action.
'Today, our intervention can only take place to rescue a boat already at sea, in particular because of the criminal liability issues associated with any interception carried out for any other reason.
'We would like to change this framework so that we can operate in shallow waters, up to 300 metres from the coast, and thus intercept 'taxi boats', while respecting the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, known as the Montego Bay Convention.
'The Interministerial Committee for Immigration Control (CiCI) has mandated the General Secretariat for the Sea (SGMer), which co-ordinates the State's action at sea, to draw up a proposal by the summer to change this.'
The source said the government's objective was to have 'shared guidelines' ready for the July summit.
The UK has a £480m deal with France designed to stop Channel crossings.
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Telegraph
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Badenoch: Let bosses ban burkas in the workplace
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Reuters
an hour ago
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This win is for Americans who look like me, says French Open champion Gauff
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Telegraph
2 hours ago
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Fisherman caught in diplomatic row with France breaks silence
A British fishing skipper whose boat was seized by the French has accused them of threatening his livelihood. Phil Parker said the French maritime authorities had seized 200 whelk pots and robbed him of £6,000 of fishing income by impounding his boat The Lady T for six days before releasing it for a bond of €30,000 (£25,200). He also faces a fine of €45,000 Euros (£38,000) on top of the bond if found guilty by a French court of 'non-authorised fishing in French waters' in a non-EU boat. Speaking publicly about the incident for the first time, Mr Parker told The Telegraph he intended to fight the case to the bitter end, claiming he had been only 288 metres into EU waters when his boat was stopped by the French. He has the backing of British fishing industry leaders, who have accused the Labour Government of selling out the British fleet, and said the treatment of the Lady T showed the French were not interested in partnership. The Lady T, based in Eastbourne, East Sussex, was intercepted by the Pluvier, a French navy ship, on May 22 for 'non-authorised fishing in French waters'. Four days later, the vessel, which was accused of fishing for whelks without an External Waters Licence, was allowed to return to Britain following the payment of the 30,000 Euros bond. Mr Parker said he failed to realise that his boat's licence to fish in the waters where he was stopped had not been renewed when he set sail. But he said the French maritime authorities behaved vindictively by impounding his boat rather than letting him off with a warning.
