Idi Amin’s expulsion of Indians from Uganda is the uneasy memory that many diaspora Indians live with.

An immigrant always has something of the migrant worker in his make-up.

You feel you need to keep your bags packed at all times, and an eye on the window. You never knew what might happen or who might show up to ask for your papers.

There was Enoch Powell in Britain in the 1960s, with his talk of “rivers of blood.” But Idi Amin’s Uganda is the nightmare scenario.

An interview with Vishwa Samani, a London-based freelance journalist descended from Asians dispelled from Uganda.

“IB TIMES: Idi Amin seized power in Uganda in January 1971 — the order to expel Asians came nineteen months later. During that interim were there any indications that he wanted to remove the Indian community, or did it come as a complete shock and surprise?

SAMANI: Most of the expelled Ugandan Asians I have interviewed who now live in the UK say the order came as a complete shock and there was no real indication it was going to happen. When Idi Amin came into power, he made the working conditions for business favorable. Many Indians — especially non-citizens that engaged in business, commerce and trade actually viewed Amin’s assumption of power with some relief. There had been fear surrounding measures introduced by his predecessor Milton Obote over entry permits and economic reforms that sought to redress the balance between Africans and non-Africans. But after 1971 Idi Amin had started offering residence permits, granting import licenses to businesses and generally opening up the market for importation, Asian businesspeople started to repatriate capital and investments back to Uganda. Early measures introduced by Amin were not exclusively beneficial to Asians, but as Asians operated the majority of business and trade, they benefited from them the most. Most expelled Asians felt settled in Uganda, indeed many of their parents were born in Uganda (2nd generation), and it was regarded as their home country……..

IB TIMES: Did the majority of African Ugandans support Amin’s decision to deport Asians?

SAMANI: African Ugandans themselves were strongly associated with their respective tribes, so it is difficult to lump them all together in one category of opinion. The general impression I have, from speaking to African Ugandans is that many were not in favor of the expulsion, especially those who were employed by Asians. The expulsion put many African Ugandans out of work. Some saw Asians as job-providers and essential to the proper functioning of the economy. There were others who welcomed the expulsion. This was mainly expressed by politicians who were aligned with Amin’s way of thinking.

IB TIMES: Did the order to expel “Asians” include other ethnic groups like Chinese or Arabs?

SAMANI: I have not come across any record of Chinese settlers in Uganda at this time. Arabs made up a very small proportion of the population; a fraction of the number of Indians. The order was directed at the large Indian community, particularly those in business and trade, the vast majority of whom had British passports.

IB TIMES: Were most Indians in Uganda at the time Gujaratis? Were there Sikhs and Muslims among them? If so, did Amin (a Muslim himself) spare Indian Muslims from the deportation order?

SAMANI: A large proportion of Indians, approximately 80 percent, were of Gujarati origin, including both Hindus and Muslims. There were a few other Indians from different states in India, including the Punjab. The official argument for expulsion seemed to hinge on national identity and economics rather than religious difference. Consequently, Muslim Indians were treated the same as Hindu Indians.

IB TIMES: Prior to expulsion, what was the legal status of Asians in Uganda? Were they citizens of Uganda?

SAMANI: In the lead up to Uganda’s independence, the colonial government offered British nationality to people of Indian origin. A majority chose to become British nationals, which seemed the obvious and more secure choice. A small number opted for Ugandan citizenship at this time. They were a negligible minority; at a guess, around 1,000 Indian families chose Ugandan passports. Choosing Ugandan citizenship enabled you to trade in any part of the country, without the same restrictions that were applied to those who carried British passports.

IB TIMES: Asians were expelled from neighboring Kenya in 1968 – did that set a precedent from Amin in 1972?

SAMANI: You would expect that it would have played a part but I am not aware of Amin referring to the Kenyan expulsion at any point. The Kenyan Indians were expelled in a much more civilized way; it was not at gunpoint. They were allowed to keep their possessions and leave with their money.

IB TIMES: Of the 90,000 or so Asians who left Uganda, did most of them go to Britain? If so, did they already carry UK passports and have the legal right to settle in Britain?

SAMANI: Around 30,000 Indians came to the UK, a small proportion went to India, and many of the Ismailis (an Indian Muslim community) went to Canada. Those who settled in the UK did have British passports, and did have the legal right to settle in Britain. However, most of them had never lived in the UK before.

IB TIMES: Did some Asians remain in Uganda in defiance of the expulsion order? If so, what did they do in the country?

SAMANI: A small number of Asians remained in Uganda. But that was not in defiance, some were allowed to stay because of their vocation, and a few had become Ugandan nationals at the time of independence. The general impression I have is that anyone who could escape, did escape. The army had turned on the Asian community, and everyone was afraid. Amirali Karmali, is a Ugandan Asian entrepreneur who stayed in the country, and rebuilt his business in the early 1980s; today, the Mukwano Group of Companies, is one of the biggest conglomerates in Uganda.

IB TIMES: Did Ugandan authorities strip the Asians of all their wealth and assets prior to their forced departure from the country.

SAMANI: Yes – all assets were confiscated, there were army checkpoints on all major roads, any gold, jewelry or money Asians were carrying with them was taken. Asians were also unable to access their bank accounts, so they landed in Britain without a penny to their name. A few of the wealthier Ugandan Asian families probably held foreign bank accounts, but the vast majority would have arrived in the UK with nothing.

IB TIMES: Amin claimed that Indians in Uganda were dominating and exploiting the economy at the expense of local Africans. Is there any validity to this assertion?

SAMANI: Indians did not really have any power to marginalize African Ugandans. They were operating under rules set by a colonial government. The economic segregation primarily arose due to ‘know how’ and trading instinct of the Indians. Even when trading regulations did not favor the Indians, they still prospered. It was mainly politicians of Amin’s persuasion that claimed the Indian community exploited Ugandans.

IB TIMES: Indians had lived in Uganda for about a century prior to the expulsion. How did they get along with African people? Did Indians remain isolated, or did they socialize with the African people?

SAMANI: Indians generally employed African Ugandans, and from what I understand, they did not really socialize. You could say the Indians were isolated, but every community in Uganda socialized and mixed only amongst its own people – the Indians were not unique in behaving in this way. This also applied to Ugandan tribes and Europeans.

IB TIMES: Were any Indians killed by Amin’s soldiers?

SAMANI: I have no recorded data of this, only anecdotal evidence that perhaps a hundred or so Indians were unaccounted for. There were not really any widely reported cases of murder. Most arrived in the UK having left in hostile circumstances, and there are some cases of individuals who disappeared and remain unaccounted for.

IB TIMES: After the Indians left, did Uganda’s economy collapse?

SAMANI: From 1971 to the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Party’s adoption of free market reforms in 1987, 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. The NRM overthrew Amin in 1979. The instability of the economy between 1971 and 1987 led to the rise of the informal sector. By 1987, President Yoweri Museveni had inherited an economy that suffered the poorest growth rate in Africa.“