Finding home in Uganda

Available for over a year

In August 1972, Idi Amin publicly condemned Ugandan Asians as ‘the enemy’, enforcing a brutal policy that ordered them to leave the country within 90 days. It is estimated between 60-70,000 South Asians left Uganda in fear for their lives. On the 50th anniversary of the expulsion, BBC reporter Reha Kansara follows her mum and aunt as they return to Uganda together for the first time. Setting off from their homes in the English suburbs, they journey to the sugar plantations of Kakira, to the source of the Nile in Jinja, where, shortly before the atrocities began, Reha’s mum recalls shaking Idi Amin’s “large hand”. On a quest to find her family’s origins, Reha dives into archives, visits museums and talks to historians about the migration route from India to East Africa and the impact the British Empire had on bringing South Asians to the subcontinent. Presenter: Reha Kansara Producers: Reena Stanton-Sharma and Alvaro Alvarez