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	== See also ==		== See also ==
	~~{{Portal\|Uganda}}~~
	*[[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin\|Non-resident Indian]]		*[[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin\|Non-resident Indian]]
	*[[Indian diaspora in Southeast Africa]]		*[[Indian diaspora in Southeast Africa]]

>KropotkinSchmopotkin: /* In popular culture */

2021-05-28T10:46:08Z

In popular culture

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[[File:Aziaten die Oeganda uitgewezen zijn op Schiphol, groep Aziaten na aankomst, Bestanddeelnr 926-0503.jpg|thumb|Expelled Asians in the Netherlands after leaving Uganda, 1972]]
{{History of Uganda}}{{short description|1972 expulsion of a racial group}}In early August 1972, the [[President of Uganda]], [[Idi Amin]], ordered the expulsion of his country's [[Indians in Uganda|Asian minority]], giving them 90 days to leave the country.<ref name="BBC On This Day">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/7/newsid_2492000/2492333.stm |title=1972: Asians given 90 days to leave Uganda |date=7 August 1972 |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=29 October 2016}}</ref> At the time of the expulsion, there were approximately 80,000 individuals of Indian descent (mostly [[Gujarati people|Gujaratis]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/international/story/19790515-hopes-soar-among-ugandan-asians-as-idi-amin-dictatorial-regime-falls-822011-2014-02-28 |title=Hopes soar among Ugandan Asians as Idi Amin's dictatorial regime falls |date=February 28, 2014 |first=K |last=Srinivas |publisher=[[India Today]]}}</ref><ref name="toi">{{cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Gujaratis-survived-Idi-Amin-fuelled-East-Africas-economy/articleshow/3625352.cms |title=Gujaratis survived Idi Amin, fuelled East Africa's economy |date=October 22, 2008 |first1=Ashish |last1=Vashi |first2=Ankur |last2=Jain |work=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref>) in Uganda, of whom 23,000 had their applications for citizenship both processed and accepted.<ref name="Amin-Indophobia" /> Although the latter were ultimately exempted from the expulsion, many chose to leave voluntarily.<ref name="Jørgensen1981">{{harvnb|Jørgensen|1981|pp=285–290}}.</ref> The expulsion took place against a backdrop of [[Anti-Indian sentiment|Indophobia]] in Uganda, with Amin accusing a minority of the Asian population of disloyalty, non-integration and commercial malpractice, claims Indian leaders disputed.<ref name="Amin-Indophobia" /> Amin defended the expulsion by arguing that he was "giving Uganda back to ethnic Ugandans".<ref name="Jørgensen1981" />

Many of the expellees were [[citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies]] and 27,200 subsequently emigrated to the [[United Kingdom]]. Of the other refugees who were accounted for, 6,000 went to [[Canada]], 4,500 refugees ended up in [[India]] and 2,500 went to nearby [[Kenya]] or [[Pakistan]].<ref name="Jørgensen1981" /> In total, some 5,655 firms, ranches, farms, and agricultural estates were reallocated, along with cars, homes and other household goods.<ref name="Jørgensen1981" />

== Background ==
The presence of South Asians in Uganda was the result of deliberate choices by the British administration (1894–1962).<ref name=":0">{{harvnb|Henckaerts|Sohn|1995|pp=22–24}}.</ref> They were brought to the [[Uganda Protectorate]] by the British to "serve as a buffer between Europeans and Africans in the middle rungs of commerce and administration".<ref name="Jørgensen1981" /> In addition, in the 1890s, 32,000 labourers from British India were [[Indian diaspora in Southeast Africa|brought to Southeast Africa]] under indentured labour contracts to work on the construction of the [[Uganda Railway]].<ref>{{harvnb|Jørgensen|1981|p=43}}.</ref> Most of the surviving Indians returned home, but 6,724 individuals decided to remain in the [[African Great Lakes]] after the line's completion.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |last=Jamal |first=Vali |date=November 1976 |title=Asians in Uganda, 1880–1972: Inequality and Expulsion |journal=The Economic History Review |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=602–616 |doi=10.2307/2595346 |jstor=2595346 |issn=0013-0117 |oclc=716168303 |ref=none}}</ref> At the time of the expulsion, there were approximately 80,000 individuals of South Asian descent in Uganda, of whom 23,000 had had their applications for citizenship both processed and accepted.<ref name="Amin-Indophobia">{{harvnb|Patel|1972|pp=12–19}}.</ref> A further 50,000 were British passport holders,<ref name="BBC On This Day" /> though Amin himself used the apparently exaggerated figure of 80,000 British passport holders in his initial expulsion speech.<ref name="Amin-Indophobia" />

The British had invested in the education of the Asian minority, in preference to that of indigenous Ugandans.<ref name=":0" /> By the early 1970s, many Indians in Southeast Africa and Uganda were employed in the [[Tailor|sartorial]] and [[banking]] businesses<ref name=":2" /> and [[Indophobia]] was already engrained by the start of Amin's rule in February 1971.<ref name="Amin-Indophobia" /> While not all Ugandan Asians were well off, they were on average better off than the indigenous communities,<ref name="Amin-Indophobia" /> constituting 1% of the population while receiving a fifth of the national income.<ref name="toi" /> Indians were stereotyped as "merely traders" and labelled as "dukawallas" (an occupational term that degenerated into an anti-Indian slur during Amin's time<ref name=":2" />), who tried to cheat unsuspecting purchasers and looked out only for their own families.<ref name=":1">{{harvnb|Patel|1972|pp=19–21}}.</ref> Conversely, it was "not unusual to find that Indians possessed attitudes of superiority and negative pictures of the ability and efficiency of Africans".<ref name=":1" /> Racial segregation was institutionalised.<ref name=":1" /> Gated ethnic communities served elite healthcare and schooling services. Additionally, the tariff system in Uganda had historically been oriented toward the economic interests of South Asian traders.<ref name="Journal of Modern African Studies">{{harvnb|Jamal|1976}}.</ref>

[[Milton Obote]]'s government had pursued a policy of "Africanisation" which included policies targeted at Ugandan Asians. The 1968 Committee on the "Africanisation in Commerce and Industry", for example, had made far-reaching Indophobic proposals and a system of work permits and trade licenses was introduced in 1969 to restrict the role of non-citizen Indians in economic and professional activities. Nevertheless, Amin's policies represented a significant acceleration.<ref name=":1" /> In August 1971, Amin announced a review of the citizenship status awarded to Uganda's Asian community, followed by the declaration of a [[census]] of Uganda's Asian population in October that year.<ref name="Jørgensen1981" /><ref name="Amin-Indophobia" /> In order to resolve the "misunderstandings" regarding the role of Uganda's Asian minority in society, he then convened an Indian 'conference' for 7–8 December. In a memorandum presented on the second day of the conference, he set out his hope that "the wide gap" between Ugandan Asians and Africans would narrow.<ref name="Amin-Indophobia" /> While paying tribute to Indians' contribution to the economy and the professions, he accused a minority of the Asian population of disloyalty, non-integration and commercial malpractice, claims Indian leaders disputed.<ref name="Amin-Indophobia" /> On the vexed question of citizenship, he said his government would recognise citizenship rights already granted, but all outstanding applications for citizenship (which by this point were thought to number more than 12,000) would be cancelled.<ref name="Amin-Indophobia" />

This expulsion of an ethnic minority was not the first in Uganda's history as the country's [[Kenya]]n minority, numbering approximately 30,000, had been expelled in 1969–70.<ref name="Jørgensen1981" /><ref>{{harvnb|Mutibwa|1992|p=67}}.</ref>

== The expulsion ==
[[File:Idi Amin -Archives New Zealand AAWV 23583, KIRK1, 5(B), R23930288.jpg|thumb|upright|Idi Amin, pictured shortly after the expulsion]]

On 4 August 1972, Amin declared that Britain would need to take on responsibility for British subjects of Asian origin,<ref name="Jørgensen1981" /> accusing them of "sabotaging Uganda's economy and encouraging corruption".<ref name="Amin-Indophobia" /> The deadline for British subjects to leave was confirmed as three months, which came to mean 8 November. On 9 August, the policy was expanded to include citizens of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.<ref name="Jørgensen1981" /> The position of the 23,000 Asians who had been granted Ugandan citizenship (and in particular those who held no other citizenship) was less clear. Not originally included, on 19 August, they were seemingly added to the list, before being re-exempted three days later following international protest. Many chose to leave rather than endure further intimidation, with only 4,000 known to have stayed.<ref name="Jørgensen1981" /> Exemptions for certain professions were added, then later removed.<ref name="Jørgensen1981" /><ref name="Amin-Indophobia" />

The precise motivation for the expulsion remains unclear. Some of his former supporters suggest that it followed a dream in which, he claimed, [[Allah]] had told him to expel them, as well as plot vengeance against the British government for refusing to provide him with arms to invade Tanzania.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-04-15/india/27882308_1_devang-raval-museveni-indians |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324184819/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-04-15/india/27882308_1_devang-raval-museveni-indians |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 March 2012 |work=[[The Times of India]] |title=Idi Amin had targeted Indians in 70s |date=15 April 2007}}</ref> Although it is not confirmed, there was a rumour circulating around the Ugandan Asians that Amin fell in love with a married Indian woman. Her family sent her away to India to get away from him and this made Amin so angry that he wanted to expel every Indian from the country in retaliation. Amin defended the expulsion by arguing that he was giving Uganda back to the ethnic Ugandans:

{{quote|We are determined to make the ordinary Ugandan master of his own destiny, and above all to see that he enjoys the wealth of his country. Our deliberate policy is to transfer the economic control of Uganda into the hands of Ugandans, for the first time in our country's history.|Idi Amin|quoted in ''Uganda: a modern history''.<ref name="Jørgensen1981" />}}

Ugandan soldiers during this period engaged in theft and physical and sexual violence against the Asians with impunity.<ref>{{cite web |title=When Idi Amin expelled 50,000 'Asians' from Uganda |url=https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/when-idi-amin-expelled-50000-asians-from-uganda |access-date=2020-08-17 |website=Adam Smith Institute |language=en-GB}}</ref> Restrictions were imposed on the sale or transfer of private businesses by Ugandan Asians and on 16 August Amin made it clear that after he was done with Indian-owned business, European-owned businesses would be next.<ref name="Amin-Indophobia" />

== Impact ==
{{Quote box|width=246px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=left|quote=The Asians only milked the cow, but they did not feed it to yield more milk.<br />There are now Black faces in every shop and industry. All the big cars in Uganda are now driven by Africans, and not the former bloodsuckers. The rest of Africa can learn from us.|source=—President [[Idi Amin]]{{sfn|Seftel|2010|p=155}}}}

Amin's decrees drew immediate worldwide condemnation, including from India. The Indian government warned Uganda of dire consequences, but took no action when Amin's government ignored the ultimatum.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.paralumun.com/waridiamin.htm |title=Idia Amin Biography |access-date=29 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927025444/http://www.paralumun.com/waridiamin.htm |archive-date=27 September 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> India continued to maintain diplomatic ties with Uganda.<ref>{{cite book |last=Yadav |first=S.N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hEvAa0WiQqkC&q=UN%20Indian%20expulsion%20Uganda&pg=PA201 |title=India-Uganda Relations: A New Model for South-south Cooperation |publisher=Global Vision Pub House |year=2008 |isbn=978-8182202962 |location=New Delhi |pages=201}}</ref> The United Kingdom froze a £10.4 million loan which had been arranged the previous year; Amin simply shrugged this off.<ref name="Amin-Indophobia" />

Many of the Indians were citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies and 27,200 refugees subsequently emigrated to the [[United Kingdom]]. Of the other refugees who were accounted for, 6,000 went to [[Canada]], 4,500 ended up in [[India]] and 2,500 went to nearby [[Kenya]]. [[Malawi]], [[Pakistan]], [[West Germany]] and the [[United States]] took 1,000 refugees each, with smaller numbers emigrating to [[Australia]], [[Austria]], [[Sweden]], [[Norway]], [[Mauritius]] and [[New Zealand]]. About 20,000 refugees were unaccounted for.<ref name="Jørgensen1981" /><ref name="socialorigins">{{harvnb|Kasozi|Musisi|Sejjengo|1994}}.</ref> Only a few hundred remained behind.<ref name="Amin-Indophobia" />

Reluctant to expand its newly introduced immigration quota, the British government had sought agreement from some of its remaining overseas territories (including [[Bermuda]], the [[British Virgin Islands|Virgin Islands]], [[British Honduras]], [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], [[Seychelles]] and the [[British Solomon Islands|Solomon Islands]]) to resettle them; however, only the [[Falkland Islands]] responded positively.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/jan/01/past.politics |title=Ministers hunted for island to house Asians |first=Alan |last=Travis |work=The Guardian |date=1 January 2003 |access-date=22 April 2016}}</ref> [[Kenya]] and [[Tanzania]] similarly closed their borders with Uganda to prevent an influx of refugees.<ref name="Amin-Indophobia" />

Some of those expelled were [[Nizari Ismaili]] [[Muslims]]. The [[Aga Khan IV]], the Imam of Nizari Ismailis phoned his long-time friend Canadian Prime Minister [[Pierre Trudeau]]. Trudeau's government agreed to allow thousands of Nizari Ismailis to emigrate to Canada.<ref name="macleansHolyMan">{{harvnb|Geddes|2010}}.</ref> The exodus of Ugandan Asians took on a new level of urgency in the September following a telegram from Amin to the UN Secretary General [[Kurt Waldheim]], in which it appeared that Amin was sympathetic to Hitler's treatment of Jews and an airlift was organised.<ref name="Amin-Indophobia" /> The UN dispatched the Executive Secretary of the [[United Nations Economic Commission for Africa|Economic Commission for Africa]], [[Robert K. A. Gardiner]], who attempted in vain to convince Amin to reverse his decision.{{sfn|Sherwood|2014|p=43}}

Before the expulsion, Asians owned many large businesses in Uganda but the purge of Asians from Uganda's economy was virtually total. In total, some 5,655 firms, ranches, farms, and agricultural estates were reallocated, along with cars, homes and other household goods.<ref name="Jørgensen1981" /> For political reasons, most (5,443) were reallocated to individuals, with 176 going to government bodies, 33 being reallocated to semi-state organisations and 2 going to charities. Possibly the biggest winner was the state-owned [[Uganda Development Corporation]], which gained control over some of the largest enterprises, though both the rapid nature of the growth and the sudden lack of experienced technicians and managers proved a challenge for the corporation, resulting in a restructuring of the sector in 1974–5.<ref name="Jørgensen1981" /> "The Ugandan economy fell deep into a crisis under the strain of civil wars, the nationalization of certain industries and the expulsion of the Asians... By 1987, President Yoweri Museveni had inherited an economy that suffered the poorest growth rate in Africa."<ref>Samani, Vishva. Interview in the International Business Times, August 6, 2012. http://www.ibtimes.com/uganda-forty-years-after-idi-amin-expelled-asians-739228</ref>

== Return ==
Thousands of Indians returned to Uganda starting in 1986 when [[Yoweri Museveni]] assumed power. Museveni criticized Idi Amin's policies and invited the Indians to return.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36132151 |title=Ugandan Asians dominate economy after exile |last=Dawood |first=Farhana |date=2016-05-15 |access-date=2019-05-20 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="toi" /> According to Museveni, "Gujaratis have played a lead role in Uganda's social and industrial development. I knew that this community can do wonders for my country and they have been doing it for last many decades." The Indians resurfacing in Uganda have helped rebuild the economy of Uganda, and are financially well settled.<ref name="toi" /><ref name="SinghRajan2015">{{cite book |author1=A. Didar Singh |author2=S. Irudaya Rajan |title=Politics of Migration: Indian Emigration in a Globalized World |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-ffCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT180 |date=6 November 2015 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-41223-6 |pages=180–}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
* 1976: Bollywood movie ''[[Charas (1976 film)|Charas]]'' has a pilot plot about the expulsion of Indians from Uganda.
* 1981: Sharad Patel's film ''[[Rise and Fall of Idi Amin]]'' portrays the actual events leading to the expulsion of Ugandan Asians to other countries.
* 1991: [[Mira Nair]]'s film ''[[Mississippi Masala]]'' portrays the story of an Indian family which flees Uganda during the turmoil and settles in [[Mississippi]].
* 1998: The expulsion was portrayed in the novel ''[[The Last King of Scotland]]'' and the subsequent 2006 [[The Last King of Scotland (film)|film of the book]].
* 2006: The aftermath of the exile provides the backdrop for [[Series 2: Episode 6 (Life on Mars)|episode 2.6]] of ''[[Life on Mars (UK TV series)|Life on Mars]]''.
* 2008: It is the main focus of the young adult novel ''Child of Dandelions'' by [[Shenaaz Nanji]], which was a finalist for Canada's [[Governor General's Award]].
* 2012: The memoir ''Shattered Lives: Sitting on Fire'' by Azim P H Somani, which was the main feature of the ITV Documentary marking the 40th anniversary.
* 2020: The short documentary '90 Days To Leave' portrays the history of the Asians in Uganda, the expulsion and the hardships they faced in the aftermath.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Uganda}}
*[[Non-resident Indian and person of Indian origin|Non-resident Indian]]
*[[Indian diaspora in Southeast Africa]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{citation | last1=Geddes | first1=John | journal=Maclean's | title=A holy man with an eye for connections | url=http://www.macleans.ca/2010/10/27/a-holy-man/ | date=27 October 2010 | access-date=17 April 2012 }}
* {{citation|title=Mass Expulsion in Modern International Law and Practice|last1=Henckaerts|first1=Jean-Marie|last2=Sohn|first2=Louis B.|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff|year=1995|isbn=90-411-00725|location=Dordrecht}}
* {{citation|jstor=160072|title=Expulsion of a minority: essays on Ugandan Asians (Review)|first=Vali|last=Jamal|journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies|volume=14|number=2|date=June 1976|pages=357–361|publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/s0022278x00053404}}
* {{citation|last=Jørgensen|first=Jan Jelmert|title=Uganda: a modern history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=09MNAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA288|access-date=12 August 2010|year=1981|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-85664-643-0}}
* {{citation |last1=Kasozi |first1=Abdu Basajabaka Kawalya |first2=Nakanyike |last2=Musisi |first3=James Mukooza |last3=Sejjengo |title=The Social Origins of Violence in Uganda, 1964–1985 |location=Montreal |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |year=1994 |page=119 |isbn=0-7735-1218-7}}
*{{citation|title=Uganda since independence: a story of unfulfilled hopes |first=Phares Mukasa|last=Mutibwa |page=67 |year=1992 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yURMdAfadS4C&pg=PA67 |access-date=17 August 2010 |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. |location=United Kingdom |isbn=1-85065-066-7}}
* {{citation|last=Patel|first=Hasu H.|year=1972|title=General Amin and the Indian Exodus from Uganda|journal=Issue: A Journal of Opinion|volume=2|issue=4|pages=12–22|doi=10.2307/1166488|jstor=1166488}}
* {{cite journal |last=Sherwood |first=Marika |author-link=Marika Sherwood |title=Robert Kweku Atta Gardiner (1914–1994): An unrecognised Ghanaian Pan-Africanist Par-Excellence |journal=Contemporary Journal of African Studies |volume=2 |issue=1 |publisher=Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana |location=Accra |date=2014 |url=https://www.ajol.info/index.php/contjas/article/view/107948 |issn=2343-6530}}{{subscription required}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Seftel |editor-first=Adam |title=Uganda: The Bloodstained Pearl of Africa and Its Struggle for Peace. From the Pages of Drum |publisher=Fountain Publishers |date=2010 |orig-year=1st pub. 1994 |location=Kampala |isbn=978-9970-02-036-2}}

[[Category:1972 in Uganda]]
[[Category:Anti-immigration politics in Africa]]
[[Category:Anti-Indian sentiment in Africa]]
[[Category:Asian diaspora in Uganda]]
[[Category:Ethnic cleansing in Africa]]
[[Category:Forced migration]]
[[Category:History of Uganda]]
[[Category:Persecution]]
[[Category:Political history of Uganda]]
[[Category:Xenophobia in Africa]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora in Africa]]
[[Category:Pakistan–Uganda relations]]

Expulsion of Asians from Uganda - Revision history

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>KropotkinSchmopotkin: /* In popular culture */