Almost 40,000 people have crossed the Channel on small boats since the start of the year, putting the UK's centre-left Labour government under pressure from the anti-immigration 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 flimsy craft at sea due to the risks to passengers.

The new strategy will involve French security forces intercepting the boats while they are in the water but before the migrants board the craft.

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

Security forces will move in before passengers board the boats to avoid endangering their lives, a spokesperson for the maritime prefecture told AFP.

Le Monde said that the document dated November 25 had been signed by PREMAR's top official as well as those of three northern French prefectures.

- Shallow waters -

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.

These so-called "taxi-boats" leave the shore discreetly and almost empty before picking up dozens of migrants who have waded into shallow waters.

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."

Le Monde also said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had written to President Emmanuel Macron urging Paris to employ the new tactics and lamenting a lack of an effective "deterrent" in the Channel.

In London, a government spokesman said: "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."

Starmer's government this month unveiled dramatic changes to its asylum system to try to reduce the attractiveness of the UK for migrants, including drastically cutting protections for refugees and their children.

- Deadliest disaster -

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.

The deadliest disaster saw 31 migrants drown when their small boat capsized in late November 2021.

French prosecutors have now requested a trial for 14 people implicated in the two smuggling rings from the Afghan and Iraqi Kurdish communities blamed for the tragedy, a source close to the case told AFP, asking not to be named.

It is up to an investigating magistrate to make the final decision on the trial.

Of the 14 charged, 12 are in France with 11 of them free under judicial supervision and one in detention. Most deny any wrongdoing and some say they were simply migrants themselves.

But both alleged leaders of the migrant smuggling wings may escape trial in France, with one man of Afghan nationality at large and the Iraqi jailed in his own country.

This aspect of the case has now been separated from the probe into seven French military personnel over alleged negligence during the disaster.

Five staff members from the regional surveillance and rescue centre and two sailors from a French patrol vessel have been charged with failure to assist a person in danger and could ultimately face a separate trial.