Were you in West Suffolk in 1972?
Do you remember the Ugandan Asians who came to Stradishall, fleeing from Idi Amin?
You may be able to help with an exciting new project!
Forty-nine years ago today, on 18 September 1972, the first evacuation flight of Asians fleeing from Uganda landed at London’s Stansted Airport. A few weeks earlier, on 4 August 1972, the Ugandan dictator, General Idi Amin, had served 90 days’ notice on 60,000 Asians to leave the country. Almost half of them arrived and resettled in the United Kingdom.
To coincide with the 50th Anniversary, next year, of this important event in modern British migration history, a commemoration project has today been launched with the generous support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund. “Welcome to Britain!” is an oral history project aimed at capturing the recollections of those who volunteered to help with the reception of Asians from Uganda during the crucial early months after their arrival in the UK.
“Welcome to Britain!” will record, on film, the stories of surviving volunteers from three reception camps at Greenham Common in Berkshire, Tonfanau in Wales, and Stradishall in West Suffolk. The volunteers formed part of an extraordinary humanitarian response involving 63 voluntary organisations that, at its peak, staffed sixteen reception camps across the UK. They worked tirelessly with the specially created Uganda Resettlement Board to welcome and facilitate the arrival of more than 28,000 Asians from Uganda.
Fifty years on, British Asians from Uganda have excelled in many fields from business and finance to politics, science, and the arts; integrating successfully and contributing to British society. A number of commemorative events are being planned by various Asian community organisations to mark this significant milestone.
Facebook: “British Ugandan Asians – Celebrating 50 years”
Twitter: BritishAsians50
Instagram: BritishAsiansFromUganda50
WhatsApp/Signal: +44(0)7579 780183
If you can help with this project in any way, please contact or to find out how to get involved.
You can also call me on 01440 820376
Dorothy Anderson