In August 1972, military leader and despot Idi Amin expelled Asian
Ugandans from the country, professing to return control of the
economy to "Ugandan citizens." Within ninety days, 50,000 Ugandans
of South Asian descent were forced to leave and seek asylum
elsewhere; nearly 8,000 resettled in Canada. This major migration
event marked the first time Canada accepted a large group of
predominantly Muslim, non-European, non-white refugees.Shezan
Muhammedi's Gifts from Amin documents how these women, children,
and men-including doctors, engineers, business leaders, and members
of Muhammedi's own family-responded to the threat in Uganda and
rebuilt their lives in Canada. Building on extensive archival
research and oral histories, Muhammedi provides a nuanced case
study on the relationship between public policy, refugee
resettlement, and assimilation tactics in the twentieth century. He
demonstrates how displaced peoples adeptly maintain multiple
regional, ethnic, and religious identities while negotiating new
citizenship. Not passive recipients of international aid, Ugandan
Asian refugees navigated various bureaucratic processes to secure
safe passage to Canada, applied for family reunification, and made
concerted efforts to integrate into-and give back to-Canadian
society, all the while reshaping Canada's refugee policies in ways
still evident today. As the numbers of forcibly displaced people
around the world continue to rise, Muhammedi's analysis of
policymaking and refugee experience is eminently relevant. The
first major oral history project dedicated to the stories of
Ugandan Asian refugees in Canada, Gifts from Amin explores the
historical context of their expulsion from Uganda, the multiple
motivations behind Canada's decision to admit them, and their
resilience over the past fifty years.
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