A Home for Ugandans

Arriving at New York's Kennedy Airport last week, they did not look much different from other passengers. The men wore business suits; the women were dressed in slacks or saris. Most of them spoke fluent English. But they were very special travelers: 82 Asians who had been peremptorily ordered out of Uganda by Strongman Idi Amin Dada, even though they were all citizens. Suddenly made stateless, they constituted the first wave of a group of 1,000 refugees that the U.S. has agreed to accept.

They were able to bring no property or possessions with them, and many had left part of their family behind; yet all of them seemed relieved to be in a country where they would no longer be the political scapegoats of a capricious dictator. Some had studied up on America. "I know the largest building is the Empire State," said Dolly Nasser, 23, a nurse. "And they are going to put even more stories on it." A bearded, wiry welder named Mahmood Ilani Mughal remarked: "I lost everything, but I am glad to be here. My two hands are here. They are my tools and I will rebuild again, with the help of Almighty God."

The effort to rescue the Ugandans has been one of the speediest operations in the history of U.S. immigration. Taking at face value Amin's dire threats of retribution if the Asians do not leave by Nov. 8, the U.S. invoked a special provision of the Immigration Law that permits the U.S. Attorney General to accept refugees under his "parole." Once they arrive in America they can apply for permanent residency and eventually citizenship.

Three weeks ago, a hastily called meeting of the seven major U.S. refugee agencies worked out plans to handle the Ugandans.* While some staffers searched for temporary homes and jobs for them, others went to Italy to talk to the exiles as they arrived at a transit camp near Naples. Lodging and work has been found for the refugees, though many will have to settle for less satisfactory jobs than the ones they left. Given their skills, they are not expected to have much trouble adjusting to the U.S. A bilingual tip sheet acquaints the Ugandans with some of the peculiarities of American life, such as its informality and addiction to cleanliness. Warns the sheet prissily: "It is highly advisable to air your apartments after you have prepared a highly seasoned Indian meal."

Compared with other waves of political exiles that have reached U.S. shores in recent years, the Ugandans are a mere ripple. Some 38,000 Hungarians have fled to the U.S., as well as more than 150,000 Cubans. But the Ugandans differ in that they are not refugees from Communist oppression. Nor do the Ugandans have large communities of coreligionists or fellow ethnics in the U.S. to plead their cause; there are few Ugandans living in America and not many Indians or Pakistanis. Still, the U.S. might do more. Canada, for example, is admitting 2,000 Ugandans. There are still at least 6,000 Asians in Uganda desperately looking for some place in the world to go as the deadline hovers over them.

*Two agencies that specialize in resettling East European refugees--the American Fund for Czechoslovak Refugees and the Tolstoy Foundation--are each placing 100 Ugandans. The other 800 are equally divided among the United States Catholic Conference, the Lutheran Council, the Church World Service, United HIAS Service (Jewish) and the International Rescue Committee.

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