Skip to main content
Regional secretary with the National Education Union
The story of the Ugandan Asians inspires us to fight racism
50 years and on the resilience and resourcefulness of Ugandan Asian refugees who settled in my community should encourage us to redesign the asylum system along the principles of solidarity and decency, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE MP
Ugandan Asian women, among the first to arrive, disembark from the specially chartered aircraft carrying their life’s possessions, September 1972

THE identity of my home city of Leicester is forged from a proud history of immigration and welcoming those seeking asylum, with Jewish Russian migrants arriving in the mid-1800s followed by European Jews fleeing persecution and Nazi barbarism in the 1930s.

After the second world war, Leicester welcomed migrants from the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent. In the late 1960s and 1970s, thousands of Asian refugees arrived from East Africa, notably those fleeing persecution in Uganda, and this century we have hosted refugees and asylum-seekers from all over the world.

This is what makes Leicester special. We are the city where the minorities make up the majority. And we are richer for this vibrant exchange of cultures.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Democrat mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during a rally at the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council headquarters in New York, July 2, 2025
Features / 15 July 2025
15 July 2025

The New York mayoral candidate has electrified the US public with policies of social justice and his refusal to be cowed. We can follow his example here, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE

Palestinians women mourn people who were killed while returning from one of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centers operated by the U.S.-backed organization, according to Nasser Hospital, during their funerals in Khan Younis, June 30
Features / 1 July 2025
1 July 2025

Israel’s monopolisation of ‘aid’ to slaughter Palestinians means there is no other option: direct international intervention now, says CLAUDIA WEBBE

Mourners carry the flag-draped coffins of five men reportedly killed in Israeli strikes, during their funeral in the city of Khorramabad, Iran, June 16, 2025
Features / 17 June 2025
17 June 2025

With missiles penetrating the air defences to strike Haifa and Tel Aviv, Netanyahu’s transparent appeal to Trump demonstrates the Israeli underestimation of Iranian retaliation, and they are desperate to drag their allies in, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE

Sherin Wafi, center, and her daughter Mira, 4, mourn during the funeral of her husband Hosam Wafi who, according to family members, was killed during an Israeli strike, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Monday, June 2, 2025
Arms Trade / 3 June 2025
3 June 2025

Starmer should not need to wait for the High Court’s decision on F-35 parts in order to do the right thing, warns CLAUDIA WEBBE

Similar stories
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking during a press conference on the Immigration White Paper in the Downing Street Briefing Room in London
Features / 16 May 2025
16 May 2025

As Starmer flies to Albania seeking deportation camps while praising Giorgia Meloni, KEVIN OVENDEN warns that without massive campaigns rejecting this new overt government xenophobia, Britain faces a soaring hard right and emboldened fascist thugs on the streets

FACING THE RIGHT:
Anti-racist protesters
in Walthamstow, 202
Features / 27 March 2025
27 March 2025
Xenophobic hysteria over the statistically insignificant number of small-boat crossings deliberately conceals how capitalism manipulates population flows for profit — if we can explain that, we’ll beat the right, argues NICK WRIGHT
COMMUNITY RESPONSE: Locals defend the Abdullah Quilliam Mosq
Features / 15 August 2024
15 August 2024
TONY CONWAY, convener of the Communist Party’s Anti-Racist and Fascist Commission and a PCS union activist, reflects on the past weeks and potential developments for the movement