https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/01/03/iranians-willing-risk-lives-fleeing-france-britain/
Given the reaction in some quarters, over the past few weeks it’s at times felt as if no democracy has faced such a Persian threat since ancient Athens fought the battle of Marathon. Obviously the situation on the Channel is serious and we shouldn’t be complacent about border security. But the number of illegal migrants, purportedly Iranians, attempting to sail across to the UK has been small – and far lower than the huge numbers of legal migrants that arrive from the EU each year over which we have no control.
There has been another reaction, however: incredulity. To a certain type of Remainer, it is unimaginable that anyone would seek to cross the Channel to make their way to Britain. And yet here they are, hundreds of people trying to escape from France.
Migration was such a big issue in the referendum because our society’s flexibility and our economy’s strength have made us a magnet. Macron talks about getting France “on the move”, but its brutal level of youth unemployment is a reflection of the bureaucratic blocks to enterprise and job creation that have long hindered growth.
An entrepreneurial Iranian – or Frenchman – has a better chance of making it here than in any other European country. Our language is an attraction, too. Migrants, if they don’t speak it already, regard learning English as more useful than picking up Italian or Greek.
It’s a separate question whether we want them to come, but it is interesting that so many of these migrants claim to be Iranian. Accounts of what is wrong in Iran tend to focus on the intolerance of the Islamic Republic towards Christians and other minorities, its restrictive policies towards women, and its authoritarian clerical regime.
However, what really threatens the Ayatollahs is their failure to kickstart an economy stifled by cronyism. President Rouhani was presented as a fresh face who would reinvigorate the economy. Now he looks more like an Iranian Macron, responsible for a makeover without substance.