French plans to push migrant boats back to shore have taken a major step forward, according to official sources.
It follows reports in the French press that four key prefectures along the English Channel coast line, have signed an official document, permitting the controversial tactic.
It would allow French marine gendarmes to push migrant dinghies back to the beach in shallow and clam waters.
In a recent leaked letter seen my French newspaper Le Monde, Sir Keir Starmer urged France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, to put the measures in place soon.
The Prime Minister allegedly wrote: “It is essential that we deploy these tactics this month…We have no effective deterrent in the Channel.”
A UK Government spokesman said the French government was taking the lead on this matter.
A statement read: “We continue to work closely with our French partners on the shared challenge of illegal migration, and we have already worked to ensure officers in France review their maritime tactics so they can intervene in the shallow waters.”
The French government has been contacted for comment.
Sir Keir reportedly wrote to President Macron urging the measures be put in place this month
French maritime police confirmed officers will start intervening at sea to safeguard lives – but said the use of nets to intercept boats has been ruled out, the BBC reports.
The move would be welcomed by Sir Keir who first announced back in April that the French had agreed to explore using the tactic.
According to the newest Government figures, a total of 153 people have been sent back to France under Labour’s “one in, one out” returns scheme so far.
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Under the pilot scheme with France, which came into force in August, people who arrive in Britain by small boat can be detained and returned to France, in exchange for an equivalent number of people who apply through a safe and legal route.
A returns flight to France on Thursday, November 27, included the removal of a second man who tried to re-enter the UK by small boat earlier this month after being deported on October 16.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans last week to overhaul the asylum system, with the aim of deterring people coming to the country illegally and making it easier to deport people.
She told MPs it was the “uncomfortable truth” that the UK’s generous asylum offer, compared to other European countries, is drawing people to UK shores and for British taxpayers the system “feels out of control and unfair”.
Among the plans, refugee status could also be made temporary, and subject to review every 30 months.
Refugees could also be forced to wait up to 20 years before being able to apply for permanent settlement in the country, up from five years at present.
And the Government will remove its legal duty to provide asylum seeker support, which means housing and weekly allowances will be discretionary and no longer be guaranteed for asylum seekers.
The reforms have been modelled on the Danish system, which is seen as one of the strictest in Europe.
