Felix Pereira

FP: Yeah, we were given three days to leave.

SC: And what was your reaction to that?

FP: Well, everybody's head just fell down. They just fell. So, we made an approach to the...some of us made an approach, can we leave in a week's time sort of thing? Which some of us did. But it was so...getting a little bit sort...everybody started selling things what...you know, their belongings. And there were a few robberies and that, and people are just attacking.

SC: Who? Who was attacking?

FP: The locals. The locals. They knew that something was happening so they would try to, you know, all the...you know, attack us, sort of thing.

SC: Were they attacking just Goans or Asians in general?

FP: No, no, just Goans. Yeah. Whoever we were, selling, I mean, people who were selling their stuff. Yeah.

SC: So these would have been friends that you knew who were being attacked?

FP: Oh yes, yeah. As I said to you earlier on, I mean, Malawi is a small place. We had a...Goans 500 head of family so anybody had a wedding day or parties, everybody knew what was happening. So it was a small place, so we knew everything what is happening.

SC: So, how did you go about packing everything in the short period that was given to you?

FP: My parents had a store, as I said. The people who had stores were given a month to leave the country. So it didn't bother me. But I...as I said, I was in Limbe and I started organizing. So my boss is saying I have to leave. And we had to prepare our PAYE sort of thing, get a clearance from the income tax and all that stuff.

SC: Was your boss African?

FP: No, he was Holland, from...Dutch.

SC: And what was his reaction to all this?

FP: Well, they didn't know what was happening. Nobody knew what was happening.

SC: Were the other Asians also afraid at this...?

FP: They were. They were, yeah. Now that you said the 'other Asians'. In our club, we had about six or eight other Asians like Hindus, then we had about four or five Europeans, you know, in it. And there was one actually African, one big shot here. And he happened to be an immigration officer who was...but when we were in prison, this...the officer...the Hindus were allowed to leave after four or five days. The Europeans were allowed to leave for four or five days. So it was only the Goans who were in.

SC: So there were some Hindus and Europeans also imprisoned as a result of this?

FP: Yes, yeah. Yeah. All... they picked up all the members of the club.

SC: So it was kind of targeting the club...

FP: Members, yes.

SC: Members?

FP: Yes.

SC: And is there any idea, or did you all ever discover why the Goan community as such was targeted in Malawi?

FP: Well, really speaking, I think, well, as you know, I mean, Goans are happy-go-lucky. I mean all of us had very good jobs. Most of our Goans had top jobs in the private companies. And in the railways, we had a few people, I mean top jobs, I mean the drivers, I mean they’re good jobs. So I did not know if they were targeting them or all of us.

SC: Now, so you packed up what you could within one month.

FP: Within a week.

SC: Within a week?

FP: Yes, within a week.

SC: And you arrived in the UK.

FP: Yes.

SC: Where did you land?

FP: Land in He...no, Gatwick. It was in Gatwick, yeah.

SC: And did you know where you were going?

FP: No, we didn't know anywhere. Didn't know anywhere. And actually, on that day when we arrived, there was a lot of, what do you call that, people from the National Front who turned up there, because the news had already gone out saying that so many Asians are coming into UK.

SC: And so were they protesting?

FP: They were. They were.

SC: At the airport?

FP: With a...yeah, they were protesting, yeah.

SC: And where were you taken?

FP: They gave us some different places, venues. I mean, because we all...we are about hun... about eighty or [inaudible 0:53] I would say then...

SC: That arrived on the same day?

FP: On that one...on that flight, yeah. Some of us were...some friends came and picked some people who knew us. There were about thirty or forty of us who were taken to Haslemere in Guildford, it was one of the orphan centres. And some people were taken to Yorkshire and different places. Different place...but most of them were to, what do you call that, Haslemere in Guildford.

SC: And this was like a camp that had been set up?

FP: No, it was an orphanage centre, so...

SC: That was kind of a makeshift?

FP: A makeshift I would say, yes, yeah.

SC: And were there Goans that had arrived before you that were already there?

FP: No, no, no, we were the first ones, yeah.

SC: You were the first ones?

FP: Yes, yeah.

SC: Can you describe this place to me?

FP: Lovely place. Right in the, what do you call it, countryside. And, well, we had to put in a pound, I think, every morning. Which pound, I think, we had to pay for our breakfast, lunch and dinner. And it was plain breakfast.

SC: And what were your first impressions of the UK?

FP: Well, I mean, my first impressions were, oh, people used to always tell us, 'Oh, don't go to UK, it's cold' and all that. It happened to be that in 1976, that was one of the best weather that...a summer that everybody had, actually.

SC: So, what did you think of English society?

FP: Well, I mean, as you know, I mean, we Goans, I mean, we moved in society and we knew all the...we used to go to the clubs of these other, what you call it, English clubs, so we were very well known, so we didn't find any difference at all.

SC: Did you find them more accepting over here as compared to Africa?

FP: I think so, yes, yeah, yeah.

Entry credit

Laura Owen