Fifty years after his mother and thousands of other Indians were expelled from the only home they had known in Uganda, CTV’s Chief News Anchor and Senior Editor Omar Sachedina takes viewers on an intimate journey back to where his mother was born. Filmed this summer, the CTV News special Expelled: My Roots in Uganda with Omar Sachedina airs Friday, Nov. 4 at 9 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV News Channel, CTV.ca, CTVNews.ca, and the CTV and CTV News apps.
The hour-long documentary follows Sachedina as he travels to his family’s homeland of Uganda alongside his mother Salma and sister Nafilia, marking the first time his mother has returned since her expulsion in 1972. That year, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin ousted the Ugandan Asian community from the country, forcing Sachedina’s parents to uproot their lives and immigrate to Canada.
As Sachedina and his family look to rediscover their roots and examine what took place 50 years earlier, the special also includes interviews with immigrants who found homes across Canada after also being expelled from Uganda, as well as insight from Canadian Visa Officer Michael Molloy. Molloy helped lead the operation that brought over 6,000 people to Canada, with the last chartered flight leaving Uganda for Canada on November 6, 1972.
“I want every Canadian to know this story, because it is one of determination, of strength, and of resilience. It’s also a story of how immigration and immigrants add to the richness of this country,” said Sachedina. “It also speaks to the kindness, compassion and generosity of those who welcomed them as they built their new lives.”
The CTV News special Expelled: My Roots in Uganda with Omar Sachedina is led by CTV’s Chief News Anchor and Senior Editor Omar Sachedina, with Shelley Ayres serving as Producer.
