France mulls intercepting UK-bound migrant boats at sea

PARIS

France is considering stopping Britain-bound migrant boats in its shallow coastal waters, but the move raises both safety and legal issues.

France has long been a launchpad for migrants hoping to cross the Channel and start a better life in Britain.

Paying smugglers thousands of dollars, they often board overloaded rubber dinghies to make the dangerous and sometimes deadly journey across one of the world's busiest shipping routes.

France and Britain have long vowed to crack down on people smugglers who organize the journey.

But until now, French authorities have only intervened on land to prevent boats leaving.

But once the vessels are at sea, French authorities have, under international maritime law, so far only intervened if someone's life was in danger.

To avoid French authorities stopping them on land, smugglers have in recent years chosen to "taxi" migrants out to boats waiting in choppy waters just offshore, rather than depart from the beach.

But as more small boats land on English shores, and the UK. .government comes under mounting pressure from the far right to tackle irregular migration, London has pressed Paris to do more.

The French Interior Ministry told AFP on June 18 it wanted its rules to "evolve" so its law enforcement officers could "intervene in shallow waters and stop 'taxi boats' up to 300 meters from the coast."

Migrant support organization Utopia 56 said French authorities intervening at sea would only increase the "risk of the boat capsizing," and be "brutal and dangerous."

Thibaut Fleury Graff, an international law professor at Pantheon-Assas University, said any intervention in shallow waters needs legal justification.