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Ugandan Asians in Leicester

Bringing "sweet memories of Uganda" to the East Midlands.

News 1972 8 mins

From the collection of:

Logo for Media Archive for Central England

Overview

Ayub Ismail Majothi fled Uganda with his family and found work in a Leicester engineering factory. He talks, with his wife Fatima, to Reg Harcourt about why they ended up in the city. Against a background of Leicester City Council taking out adverts in the Uganda Argus advising people not to come to the city this is a brave move in the face of adversity. British Asian Welfare Society spokesman Harban Singh Ratoo and council leader Edward Marston also contribute their views.

The Ugandan leader Idi Amin had ordered the minority Asian population out of the county in the early summer of 1972. Many of those expelled held British passports and were descendants of people brought to Uganda from India when both nations were under British colonial rule. Sections of this film, which is the sole surviving element of the original broadcast on ATV Today, are without a commentary. The vox pop section of the report provides us with a snapshot of the debate on UK immigration which resonates across the decades.