ESCAPING IDI AMIN: BBC ANNOUNCES NEW DOCUMENTARY SERIES

In 1972, 18 months into his brutal regime, Idi Amin declared that all Asians had just 90 days to leave Uganda, forever. Unpredictable and charismatic, Amin said he was acting after God appeared to him in a dream.

Asian families were the bedrock of the Ugandan economy, and many had lived there for generations. But for Idi Amin, their presence and status were a reminder of a colonial past.

Told as a historical thriller; Escaping Idi Amin (w/t) reveals the extraordinary story of those 90 days, through the eyes of those who lived it. Across the world, Amin’s announcement was met first by shock and disbelief, turning to panic and fear with each passing day.

Almost 30,000 Ugandan Asians were British passport holders – but their passports were not enough to guarantee entry into the UK. Whipped up by Enoch Powell and others, the UK was increasingly anti-immigrant.

As the 90-day deadline approached, the terror in Uganda intensified, with curfews, roadblocks, arrests and murders. Those who made it to Britain were allowed to leave with just £50 and were bussed to camps across the country. 50 years on, the then Prime Minister David Cameron referred to Ugandan Asians as “one of the most successful groups of immigrants anywhere in the history of the world,”

Escaping Idi Amin (w/t), a 2 x 60’ for BBC Two and iPlayer, is made by Dragonfly Film & TV (a Banijay UK company). It was commissioned by Simon Young, Head of Commissioning, History, the Executive Producers are Nacressa Swan, Ed Coulthard and Will Rowson and the Director is Sara Kandasamy.