59 White Afrikaners admitted as refugees to US, sparking debate over racial bias
The Trump administration on Monday welcomed a group of 59 white South Africans into the United States as refugees, a rare move that reignites global debate over racial bias in asylum decisions and US refugee policy under President Donald Trump.The group of Afrikaners — including toddlers and small children, one barefoot and dressed in pajamas — arrived in an airport hangar outside Washington, where Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau greeted them. The South Africans were then leaving on other flights to various US destinations, news agency Associated Press reported.advertisement'I want you all to know that you are really welcome here and that we respect what you have had to deal with these last few years,' Landau told the group, many of whom waved small American flags.
Originally expected to number 49, the final count of arrivals Monday was 59, according to the State Department.President Donald Trump told reporters earlier Monday that he's admitting them as refugees because of the 'genocide that's taking place.' He said that in post-apartheid South Africa, white farmers are 'being killed' and he plans to address the issue with South African leadership next week.The claim, however, was rejected by the South African government, which called the allegations 'completely false' and said they stem from 'misinformation and an inaccurate view of the country.''White Afrikaners are among the richest and most successful people in South Africa,' the government said in a statement, pushing back on the narrative of persecution.advertisementSpeaking at a business conference in Ivory Coast, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday that he spoke with Trump recently and told him his administration had been fed false information by groups who were casting white people as victims because of efforts to right the historical wrongs of colonialism and South Africa's previous apartheid system of forced racial segregation, which oppressed the Black majority.'I had a conversation with President Trump on the phone and he asked me, 'What's going on down there?' and I told him that what you are being told by those people who are opposed to transformation back in South Africa is not true,' Ramaphosa said.Afrikaners, South Africa's largest white ethnic group, once led the apartheid government that enforced racial segregation for nearly five decades until its end in 1994. While South Africa has made significant strides in racial reconciliation, tensions persist between certain Black political parties and some segments of the Afrikaner community.(With inputs from Associated Press)ALSO READ: Al-Qaida-linked group kills over 100 in deadly Burkina Faso attack
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India Today
25 minutes ago
- India Today
How Tharoor hit Trump, Rahul Gandhi with a single stone on ceasefire
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Time of India
30 minutes ago
- Time of India
Trump travel ban on citizens from 12 countries leaves arch rivals China and Russia out
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Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Trump's visa order leaves international students with a ‘sense of inferiority'
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