Sadiq Khan... An Immigrant Success Story

We still remember, three years ago, the heroic act of an illegal immigrant from Mali when he rescued a child from falling from the fourth floor of a building in Paris. After that, he received an official and popular honor in France, in addition to the decision of French President Emmanuel Macron to grant him French citizenship and join the Paris Fire Brigade.

Yes, it is one of the stories of immigrants that could be taught for university students who are majored in immigration and international relations.

Are there really positive changes in the Western countries' view of immigrants? It is a difficult problem, but the truth says that immigrants, especially illegal immigrants, who arrived in recent years to European countries, will have difficult lives there, especially with regard to the political parties that exploit immigrants and Muslims as a way only to collect votes in the elections.

We know, as we have said many times, that the immigration file represents one of the intractable problems in Europe, as some factors related to sovereignty, economy, integration, political asylum, elections, the emergence of right-wing parties and xenophobia are intertwined with it.

Some people stress the necessity not to make immigrants subject to a security policy to combat Islamism that was adopted in the Mediterranean region, and not to confuse immigration with terrorism, drugs and crime.

This is a demand that the youth of the South Bank who seek to achieve freedom of movement is pressing for.

Such policy also calls for reforming the visa policy to avoid more attempts of illegal migration and provide large sums of money that are allocated to fight secret entry into the Mediterranean countries, while this problem affects only 10 percent of illegal immigrants, most of which results from extending legal entry to the illegal residence

.

All researches indicate that the more open borders, the easier flow of migrants (as is the case in Central and Eastern Europe), and the more closed frontiers, the more smuggling attempts and migrants settle randomly when they lack the necessary documents as a result of the inability to leave or return later.

I say these words and know that some immigrants of Islamic origins could play greater roles in the Diaspora.

Here’s the story of the laborer Sadiq Khan, who has managed to win a second term as the mayor of the British capital. The 50-year-old- Khan is the son of Pakistani immigrants, who lived a difficult life when he was young. He had won the mayor of London for the first time in 2016 and became the first Muslim at the helm of Western capital.

"I grew up in social housing, a working-class boy, a child of immigrants, but I am now the mayor of London. I am a Londoner. The city is in my blood but I am also a patriotic Englishman. and a Briton proud to represent the formidable capital of the nation “, the Labor mayor said after the announcement of his victory, promising to “building bridges between communities” in the next three years.

All observers believe that the British people voted for Khan due to his extraordinary intelligence and his love for coexistence among the various spectrums of British society, in addition to the bride of his Pakistani Islamic origins. By doing so, he was able to establish for himself a reputation of a man who believes in the lofty principles of Europe.

During his tenure, Sadiq Khan has carved out a name for himself as a staunch Europhile, fierce towards Brexit, and his apostle, Tory Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his predecessor as mayor. The mayor of London pleaded in 2018 for a second referendum on Brexit, warning that Britain risked rout if it left the European Union without a deal.

For his campaign, Sadiq Khan adopted as a mantra “employment, employment, employment” in order to revitalize the economy of a metropolis marked by the pandemic and Brexit, a blow to its powerful financial sector.

This small size of 1m65 with pepper and salt hair has also been talked about for his skirmishes with US President Donald Trump, who personally targets him during a wave of jihadist attacks in London.

“He once qualified me […] to the loser. Only one of us is a loser, and it’s not me “, joked Sadiq Khan, a week before the poll, revealing an unfailing desire. Only one of us is a loser, and it’s not me.