Uganda Expelled Asians Leave Kampala As President Idi Amin Attends Muslim Prayers on Eid Al-Fitr 🇺🇬

In early August 1972, the President of Uganda, Idi Amin, ordered the expulsion of his country's Asian minority, giving them 90 days to leave the country. At the time of the expulsion, there were about 80,000 individuals of Indian descent (mostly Gujaratis in Uganda, of whom 23,000 had their applications for citizenship both processed and accepted. Although the latter were ultimately exempted from the expulsion, many chose to leave voluntarily. The expulsion took place against the backdrop of Indophobia in Uganda, with Amin accusing a minority of the Asians of disloyalty, nonintegration and commercial malpractice, claims that Indian leaders disputed. Amin defended the expulsion by arguing that he was "giving Uganda back to ethnic Ugandans".

Many of those who were expelled were citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies and 27,200 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. In total, some 5,655 firms, ranches, farms, and agricultural estates were reallocated, along with cars, homes and other household goods.
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