Dr. Shezan Muhammedi is a policy analyst with the government of Canada and an adjunct research professor in the Department of History at Carleton University. He’s also the author of Gifts from Amin: Ugandan Asian Refugees in Canada. Using archival research and oral histories, the book explores the historical context of the resettlement, Canada’s refugee policy, and how thousands rebuilt their lives in Canada.

Mr. Muhammedi completed his PhD in History and Migration and Ethnic Relations at the University of Western Ontario, with his dissertation exploring the resettlement of Ugandan Asian refugees in Canada in the 1970s. His mother’s family came to Ottawa, Ontario as Ugandan Asian refugees in late October of 1972 fueling his passion for displaced peoples and vulnerable communities. Upon completion of his PhD, Dr. Muhammedi spent four years working for Focus Humanitarian Assistance under the Aga Khan Development Network leading a resettlement program for newly arrived asylum seekers and refugees in Europe.

Jalal Jaffer is a Vancouver-based lawyer and author of Memories of a Ugandan Refugee: Encounters of Hope From Kampala to Vancouver. The memoir recounts his personal story of growing up in Uganda, his dangerous escape with his wife in 1972, and his gratitude to the country that embraced him ever since.

He became close friends prior to the expulsion decree with a Canadian immigration official, Mike Molloy (featured in our digital story), who encouraged him to apply to Canada immediately following the expulsion decree.

Mr. Jaffer was born in 1945 in Kenya and moved to Kampala, Uganda with his family when he was three, growing up there as one of nine children. After coming to Canada, he earned his Law degree from the University of British Columbia in 1977, and in 2015, he was named Queen’s Counsel by the Government of British Columbia. Today Mr. Jaffer balances his work and family life with service to the Canadian Ismaili Muslim community.

Mike Molloy, a retired Foreign Service Officer, was second in command at the Kampala office during the expulsion. He was sent to Uganda in September 1972 where he managed the unit that interviewed the refugees and supported their next steps.

Mike also coordinated the resettlement of 60,000 Indochinese refugees in Canada in 1979-80 and oversaw the implementation of the refugee provisions of the 1976 Immigration Act. He’s president of the Canadian Immigration Historical Society and a Senior Fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. Mike was Director General of Citizenship and Immigration in Ontario and former Ambassador of Canada to Jordan.

Born in Entebbe, Tom Francis was in the middle of completing a master’s degree in agriculture when Amin’s 1972 decree forced him, his family, and then-girlfriend Joan to find a new home in Canada. He and Joan got married to make the immigration process easier and arrived in Montreal shortly thereafter. Fortunately, Tom was able to complete his master’s at McGill University. After attaining his PhD in agriculture and working for Agriculture Canada for several years, Tom worked with Syngenta Seeds Canada until his retirement in 2010.