See for Yourself!

An East End shop steward is sent to Uganda in this groundbreaking experiment in investigative journalism

“Go to Uganda and see for yourself”. This is the offer given to Wally Murrell, a shop steward from London’s Smithfields Market who strongly opposed Britain accepting Asians expelled from Uganda in 1972. This edition of World in Action succeeds in changing his opinion on immigration by taking him out to Uganda at the height of dictator Idi Amin’s expulsion, to see first-hand the plight of the Indian community given just 90 days to leave the country.

World in Action ran from 1963 to 1998 and was considered one of the best current affairs programmes in the UK for challenging perspectives on news stories of the day through its campaigning journalism. This episode was an excellent exercise in expanding one individual’s world view by taking them out to Uganda at a key point in the crisis. As British Citizens of the Commonwealth holding British passports, many Ugandan Asians were bound for England, where they faced significant hostility from the host nation.