Refugees: How to Solve the Problem

In the early 70s, all foreigners in Uganda were given 90 days to pack up and leave their home of many years. The new dictator, Ida Amin, had kicked them out. My mother’s family was among them. Luckily, my grandmother, my mother, and her siblings had British passports, so none of their documents were taken away; however, my grandfather had Ugandan documents and had to remain in the country as stateless. Most of their friends had Ugandan passports and could not leave the country. My grandmother took the children and fled to England where they stayed with family friends and my grandfather was left behind. Since my grandfather was stateless, he went to multiple embassies and tried to claim refugee status. To his advantage, he worked for British American Tobacco and would sell it to the soldiers as a bribe. The Canadian government at the time recognized that most of these refugees were highly educated, English-speaking and would assimilate into Canadian culture with ease. Also benefitting the economy. Unfortunately, my family ended up in the Eastern townships in Quebec (my mother says thi...