A local BBC radio podcast explores the lived experiences of Ugandan Asians who arrived in the UK as refugees after being expelled from the country by the brutal dictator.
Tens of thousands of people were stripped of their assets and given 90 days to leave Uganda in August 1972 by former president Idi Amin.
It brought panic, heartache and fear as it was a country they loved – and a place they called home for generations.
Nearly 27,000 individuals and families holding British passports arrived in the UK, shocked, traumatised and faced with the daunting prospect of making a new life.
To mark 50 years since ex-President Amin ordered the expulsion of the Ugandan Asian community, we hear powerful personal stories from those who eventually settled in places like Manchester, Leeds, London and Leicester.
The four-part series titled ‘My Moment in History: Expelled from Uganda’ is fronted by journalist Rupal Rajani, who was two when her family were ordered to leave their adopted homeland.
Rupal says: “It’s an emotional story that future generations need to hear about. I want people to understand the resilience, strength and courage that it took for families like mine to settle in a very different country as well as celebrate their contribution to local communities.”
Author and journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, who was born in Uganda and had been studying in the UK when ex-President Amin made the announcement to expel the community from the country, shares the impact it had on her family.
Yasmin says: “When the announcement came at first, I think Asians thought he was joking. You know, he was always saying these mad things. My in-laws were in Uganda at that time and quite a lot of my relatives were there and they were saying no, they will never do it, what are they going to do without us?
“I think there was a certain arrogance, so everybody was in a kind of naive state of disbelief.”
Another episode examines how the thriving community in Leicester has developed over the last 50 years, although the council had taken out an advert discouraging Ugandan Asians from coming to the city seeking jobs and homes in the 1970s.
In another episode a retired policeman, who was a young police cadet when he worked at one of the resettlement camps set up by the authorities to offer help and support, is brought together with a refugee who’s family passed through that particular centre.
The series also asks how young Ugandan British Asians feel about the story.
Chris Burns, Head of Local BBC Radio said: “It’s really important for Local BBC Radio to mark this anniversary. The contribution Uganda Asians have made to the fabric of the UK, in every area is immense and something to be proud of and we wanted to tell their story.”
‘My Moment In History: Expelled from Uganda’ is a BBC England production for BBC Sounds and will be available on be on your local BBC radio station and BBC Sounds on Thursday 4 August.
