Report on Citizenship Law: Uganda citizenship had to provide an original birth certificate or a certified copy; those who did not possess original documents faced the challenge of acquiring one from the Office of the Registrar of Births and Deaths.19 In December 1971 representatives from the Asian community complained about the unprocessed applications to President Amin, in which he informed that his government had come to power through a coup d’état and was not responsible for the shortcomings of the previous administration.20 Even for those who had managed to become citizens either through registration or naturalisation faced challenges in seeking administrative support, such as applying for a passport in which their original documents would be filed away by the Office of Immigration and never returned; such occurrences which would result in them being deemed non-citizens.21 The legal measures to enable the final expulsions were two immigration decrees adopted in 1972 allowing for cancellation of entry permits and certificates of residence. 22 Ugandan Asians were forced to leave Ugandan within a three-month period of which the official deadline was the 9th of November 1972. They were also required to leave behind their property and possession without any compensation.23 This event was a critical turning point for the discourse characterizing access to nationality and citizenship in East Africa following the decolonization period and the manner by which the right to belonging was defined, in addition to having broader international ramifications. 2.5. The post-Amin regime Amin’s rule came to an end when he was forced into exile as a result of the Uganda-Tanzania War or 1978-1979. Nyerere had never officially recognized Amin’s regime and enjoyed a close relationship with former Ugandan president Obote, to whom he offered exile following his ousting. 24 Amin’s annexation of the Kagera Salient located in northwestern Tanzania in November of 1978 served as the trigger for the war which would end his rule in April 1979.25 This would lead to Obote’s eventual return to power for another five-year second term. In 1983, the new government passed the Expropriated Properties Act,26 which allows for the return of Ugandan Asians and the right to reclaim their confiscated properties. The Act provided for the “transfer of the properties and businesses acquired or otherwise expropriated during the military regime to the Ministry of Finance [and] the return to former owners or disposal of the property by the Government”. The beneficiaries were identified “departed Asians” who had left Uganda in 1972. This measure, however, did not reinstate citizenship rights for this particular group, and upon, for example, applying for a passport previously expelled persons would find out they were still not considered a Ugandan citizen. 19 Ibid. Ibid. 21 Ibid. 22 Immigration (Cancellation of Entry Permits and Certificates of Residence) Decree No.17 of 7 August 1972, and the Immigration (Cancellation of Entry Permits and Certificates of Residence) (Amendment) Decree No.30 of 25 October 1972. 23 Frank Wooldridge; Vishnu D. Sharma, “International Law and the Expulsion of Ugandan Asians”, International Lawyer (ABA) 9, no. 1 (January 1975): 30-76. 24 Roberts, George. The Uganda–Tanzania War, the Fall of Idi Amin, and the Failure of African Diplomacy, 1978–1979, Journal of Eastern African Studies 8, no. 4 (November 2014): 692–709. 25 Ibid. 26 Expropriated Properties Act 1983. Uganda Legal Information Institute. https://ulii.org/ug/legislation/consolidated-act/87 (accessed 12 December 2018). 20 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/8 - © 2020 Author 5