The number of people departing from French shores to cross the English Channel by boat has dropped this year as French security forces have ramped up land interceptions of convoys trying to reach the coast and fewer Albanians are making their way to Britain, according to the French coastguard and UK Home Office. "This is linked to the intervention of the security forces, we are doing a lot of interceptions on the coast, a lot of interceptions on land before they reach the water," Veronique Magnin, spokesperson for the French coastguard, told Reuters. The numbers recorded by the French coastguard refer to the number of departures from the French coast to cross the Channel, including those departures that were intercepted at sea or may have drowned, Magnin added, highlighting they are distinct from arrival figures provided by the British authorities.