Top US officials welcomed the first group of Afrikaner “refugees” to Washington on Monday night, claiming they had been “living under a shadow of violence and terror” in South Africa. Pretoria has categorically denied that Afrikaners face persecution in South Africa, saying the assertion is “
Top US officials welcomed the first group of Afrikaner “refugees” to Washington on Monday night, claiming they had been “living under a shadow of violence and terror” in South Africa. Pretoria has categorically denied that Afrikaners face persecution in South Africa, saying the assertion is “devoid of all truth”.
“The president made it clear that Afrikaners in South Africa who are the victims of unjust racial discrimination would be welcome to come to the United States, and he’s now delivering on that promise,” the US deputy secretary of state, Christopher Landau, told reporters at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia. Landau was joined by the US deputy secretary of homeland security, Troy Edgar.
“The deputy secretary [Edgar] and I just spoke to some of the folks who arrived on this flight, and they tell quite harrowing stories of the violence that they’ve faced in South Africa that was not redressed by the authorities, by the unjust application of the law.
“The United States, as we are proud to say, stands for equal justice under law and the fair and impartial application of the law,” claimed Landau. He added that the group had experienced “fear for their lives” in South Africa.
Landau said “the importance of assimilation” into the US was one of the main factors considered in the admission of refugees to the country.
“Through this resettlement programme for these folks who were vetted in South Africa, we’re sending a clear message that the United States really rejects the egregious persecution of people on the basis of race in South Africa,” he added.
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The 59 Afrikaners, who have been granted refugee status by the US government, left OR Tambo International Airport on Sunday night and arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport on Monday. The number of refugees was initially thought to be 49, but the State Department reportedly said 59 arrived.
An Omni Air International charter carrying the 'refugees' lands at Washington Dulles International Airport on 12 May. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
According to a report in The New York Times on Monday night, US President Donald Trump’s administration has made plans for the “refugees” to be resettled in several states, including Idaho, Alabama, New York, California, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada and North Carolina.
During a press conference on Monday morning, South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) Minister Ronald Lamola said there was “no proof” the group had faced persecution in South Africa.
“They can’t provide any proof of any persecution because there’s none. There’s not any form of persecution to white South Africans or to Afrikaner South Africans,” said Lamola.
Read more: ‘No proof of persecution’ says Ronald Lamola as 49 Afrikaner ‘refugees’ jet off for US
Lamola’s remarks followed a statement by Dirco last Friday, which challenged the US’s assertion that Afrikaners qualified for refugee status, saying that the allegations of discrimination against the group were “unfounded”.
‘Mission South Africa’
Following Trump’s executive order in February, in which he authorised his administration to “prioritise” the admission and resettlement of Afrikaners in the US “who are victims of unjust racial discrimination”, he set up a programme called “Mission South Africa” and deployed teams to Pretoria to vet white South Africans for consideration, according to The New York Times.
Of more than 8,000 requests from Afrikaners who were interested in becoming refugees, the US identified 100 Afrikaners who could potentially be approved, added the report.
The establishment of “Mission South Africa” came as US refugee resettlement programmes for refugees around the world, such as Congolese and Rohingya people, remain suspended, according to the report. While refugees can often wait years before they are processed and approved for resettlement in the US, the process of resettlement for the Afrikaners seemed to be expedited, taking no more than three months.
Asked by a reporter why the US government had made such an exception for the Afrikaners when the South African government had denied racial persecution and other refugee programmes remained suspended, Landau said the “pause” on refugee admission programmes announced by Trump “was subject … to exceptions where it was determined that this would be in the interest in the US.
“Some of the criteria are making sure that refugees did not pose any challenge to our national security and that they could be assimilated easily into our country.
“All of these folks who have just come in today have been carefully vetted pursuant to our refugee standards, and whether or not the broader refugee programmes for other people around the world would be lifted is still an ongoing consideration.”
Read more: Trump’s Afrikaner refugees could be in for a long wait — if previous US policies apply
In a statement on Monday, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the most senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, condemned the Trump administration’s resettlement of the Afrikaners, calling it “politically motivated and an effort to rewrite history”.
“It is baffling as to why the Trump administration is admitting Afrikaners for resettlement while continuing an indefinite suspension for thousands of legitimate asylum seekers who have fled persecution, often because their lives were at risk. Last year, the UN found no South Africans were eligible for refugee status,” said Shaheen.
Farmers picket outside the US embassy in Pretoria on 15 February in support of an executive order by US President Donald Trump granting Afrikaners refugee status in the US. (Photo: Kim Ludbrook / EPA-EFE)
‘Generational farmers’
In a statement published on its website on Monday, the US embassy in Pretoria outlined the eligibility for US resettlement consideration, saying that to be considered, persons:
- “Must be of South African nationality; and
- Must be of Afrikaner ethnicity or be a member of a racial minority in South Africa; and
- Must be able to articulate a past experience of persecution or fear or future persecution.”
The arrival of the first group of Afrikaner “refugees” in the US came hours after Trump, during a press conference at the White House on Monday afternoon, claimed there was a “genocide” happening against white farmers in South Africa.
Asked by a reporter why he had created an expedited path for Afrikaner “refugees” to resettle in the US, Trump responded: “Because they’re being killed and we don’t want to see people be killed.
“There’s a genocide that’s taking place that you people don’t want to write about. But it’s a terrible thing that’s taking place, and farmers are being killed — they happen to be white. But whether they’re white or black makes no difference to me. But white farmers are brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa,” claimed the president.
Trump’s claims of a “genocide” taking place against white farmers in South Africa are not borne out by the data.
Of the 19,000 murders recorded in South Africa between January and September 2024, 50 were farm murders, according to a News24 report. This number included people of all races, added the report.
Read more: ‘We must be clear there’s no white genocide in SA’, frustrated MPs urge
South African Police Service (SAPS) crime statistics showed that of 12 murders linked to farming communities which occurred between October and December last year, four were farm employees, five had been staying on farms, one was security guard, one was listed as “not specified” and one was a farmer, Daily Maverick reported.
Amid questions about who the Afrikaner “refugees” are, on Monday evening, Landau said “a fair number” of the individuals that had arrived in the US were farmers who had farmed their land for “generations”.
“Now, [they] face the threat — not only of expropriation — but also of direct violence… Many of these folks have experience with threatening invasions of their homes — their farms — and a real lack of interest or success of the government in doing anything about this situation,” he said.
In a statement issued on the US Department of State website on Monday, the department suggested this would not be the first group to be resettled in the US.
“In the coming months, we will continue to welcome more Afrikaner refugees and help them rebuild their lives in our great country.” DM