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Duration 43:53

Ugandan Asians in Britain: Journeys across three continents to find a home

It is 40 years since Idi Amin arbitrarily decided to expel over 70,000 Asians resident in Uganda. Given only 90 days to leave the land-locked East African country, most were forced to abandon homes and businesses, taking with them only what they could carry. Whole communities and families were uprooted and separated at the whim of the unpredictable military dictator. Of those expelled, almost 30,000 found refuge in Britain. Many came as colonial citizens with British passports, others with no national identity at all.

Using The National Archives’ records, this talk examines the extraordinary journey of these resilient people who turned adversity and trauma into success, becoming one of the most settled minority communities in Britain’s multicultural society.

Karim Hussain has worked in the Advice and Records Knowledge department of The National Archives for five years. His research interests are post-war and contemporary records. He has represented The National Archives at conferences, acted as a spokesperson at press events and delivered talks on family history and cold war history.

This podcast was the result of a collaboration between The National Archives and The Exiles Project.