First group of white South Africans lands in U.S. under Trump refugee plan
The group, which included families and small children, was due to arrive at Dulles International Airport outside Washington D.C. on Monday morning local time, according to Collen Msibi, a spokesperson for South Africa's transport ministry.
They are the first Afrikaners, an ethnic group of predominantly Dutch and French descent whose ancestors settled in South Africa in the 17th century, to be relocated to the U.S. after President Trump issued an executive order on Feb. 7, accusing South Africa's Black-led government of racial discrimination against the group and announcing a program to relocate them.
Story continues below advertisement
'In shocking disregard of its citizens' rights, the Republic of South Africa (South Africa) recently enacted Expropriation Act 13 of 2024 (Act), to enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners' agricultural property without compensation,' the Trump administration executive order states.
The South African government vehemently denies that Afrikaners are being discriminated against, and called the Trump administration's claim 'completely false,' adding that it paints an unrepresentative picture of the country.
In a press conference on Monday, when asked about the incoming group of Afrikaners, whom the U.S. has chosen to welcome as refugees at a time when the country is also executing mass deportations of foreign nationals, many of whom hold legal status in the country, Trump said it's because 'they are being killed, and we don't want to see people be killed.'
Trump added that he will meet with South African leaders next week to discuss the issue further.
Story continues below advertisement
'South Africa leadership is coming to see me, I understand sometime next week, and we are supposed to have, I guess, a G20 meeting there or something. But we're having a G20 meeting, I don't know how we can go unless that situation is taken care of,' he told reporters, adding that the South African government's treatment of Afrikaners amounts to genocide.
Get daily National news
Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
'It's a genocide that's taking place that you people don't wanna write about, but it's a terrible thing that is 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 being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa, and the newspapers and the media and television media doesn't even talk about it. If it were the other way round, they'd talk about it, that would be the only story they'd talk about,' he continued.
The president did not elaborate on this claim, nor did he provide any evidence of a genocide against the group.
'I don't care who they are, I don't care about their race, their colour, I don't care about their height, their weight, I don't care about anything, I just know that what's happening is terrible,' he went on.
'I have people that live in South Africa, they say it's a terrible situation taking place, so we've essentially extended citizenship to those people to escape from that violence and come here,' the president concluded.
Story continues below advertisement
View image in full screen
Newly arrived South Africans wait to hear welcome statements from U.S. government officials in a hangar at Atlantic Aviation Dulles near Washington Dulles International Airport on May 12, 2025, in Dulles, Virginia. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
According to South African authorities, Afrikaners are among 'the most economically privileged' people in the nation.
There are around 2.7 million Afrikaners among South Africa's population of 62 million, which is more than 80 per cent Black. Hence, despite being a minority, many in South Africa, given its fraught racial history, are confused by claims that white Afrikaners are being persecuted and meet the requirements to be refugees.
View image in full screen
The first group of Afrikaners from South Africa to arrive for resettlement listens to remarks from US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and US Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Troy Edgar (both out of frame), after they arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, on May 12, 2025. Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
There are many successful Afrikaner business leaders, some hold cabinet minister positions in government, and their language, Afrikaans, is widely spoken — including by non-Afrikaners — and is recognized as an official language.
Story continues below advertisement
Nonetheless, Trump and his South African-born colleague, Elon Musk, accused the country's government in February of implementing racist anti-white laws and economic policies that disproportionately impact rural Afrikaner farmers.
The claims are founded on a relatively small number of violent farm attacks and robberies on white people in rural communities, but the U.S. alleges the attacks are racially motivated, and that the South African government is 'fuelling' them by allowing anti-white rhetoric to circulate and not providing sufficient protection to white Afrikaners.
The government says those claims are false, has condemned the farm attacks, and says their cause is being purposefully falsified.
Violent attacks on farm owners in South Africa have been a problem for years, but instances represent a small percentage of the country's extremely high violent crime rates, which affect all races. The government says there is no targeting of white people in South Africa and no persecution, and farm attacks are part of its struggles with violent crime.
— With files from The Associated Press
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
9 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Zelenskyy to meet with UK's Starmer as Europe braces for Trump-Putin summit
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in London Thursday morning, the latest meeting between the Ukrainian leader and the head of a European country as the continent braces for a critical U.S.-Russia summit in Alaska on Friday. Zelenskyy's trip to the British capital comes a day after he took part in virtual meetings from Berlin with U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of several European countries. Those leaders said Trump had assured them he would make a priority of trying to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Anchorage. Both Zelenskyy and the Europeans have worried the bilateral U.S.-Russia summit would leave them and their interests sidelined, and that any conclusions reached could favor Moscow and leave Ukraine and Europe's future security in jeopardy with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine now in its fourth year. Yet some of those leaders, like German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, praised Wednesday's video conference with Trump as constructive. Speaking after the meetings to reporters, Trump warned of 'very severe consequences' for Russia if Putin does not agree to stop the war against Ukraine after their Friday meeting. Territorial integrity Starmer on Wednesday said the Alaska summit would be 'hugely important,' and could be a 'viable' path to a ceasefire in Ukraine. But he also alluded to European concerns that Trump may strike a deal that forces Ukraine to cede territory to Russia, and warned that Western allies must be prepared to step up pressure on Russia if necessary. During a call Wednesday among leaders of countries involved in the 'coalition of the willing' — those who are prepared to help police any future peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv — Starmer stressed that any deal reached on bringing the fighting to an end must protect the 'territorial integrity' of Ukraine. 'International borders cannot be, and must not be changed by force, and again that's a long-standing principle of this group,'' he said. 'And alongside that, any talk about borders, diplomacy, ceasefire has to sit alongside a robust and credible security guarantee to ensure that any peace, if there is peace, is lasting peace and Ukraine can defend its territorial integrity as part of any deal.' Some Ukrainians skeptical With another high-level meeting on their country's future on the horizon, some Ukrainians expressed skepticism that any breakthroughs would be achieved during Friday's U.S.-Russia summit. Oleksandra Kozlova, 39, a department head at a digital agency in Kyiv, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that she believes Ukrainians 'have already lost hope' that meaningful progress can be made on ending the 3 1/2-year-old war. 'I don't think this round will be decisive,' she said. 'There have already been enough meetings and negotiations promising us, ordinary people, that something will be resolved, that things will get better, that the war will end. Unfortunately, this has not happened, so personally I don't see any changes coming.' Anton Vyshniak, a car salesman in Kyiv, said Ukraine's priority now should be saving the lives of its military servicepeople, even at the expense of making territorial concessions. 'At the moment, the most important thing is to preserve the lives of male and female military personnel. After all, there are not many human resources left,' he said. 'Borders are borders, but human lives are priceless. Therefore, some principles can be disregarded here.' Russia and Ukraine trade strikes Russian strikes in Ukraine's Sumy region overnight Wednesday resulted in numerous injuries, Ukrainian regional officials said. A missile strike on a village in the Seredyna-Budska community injured a 7-year-old girl and a 27-year-old man, according to regional governor Oleh Hryhorov. The girl was hospitalized in stable condition. In the southern Kherson region, Russian artillery fire struck the village of Molodizhne on Thursday morning, injuring a 16-year-old boy, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. The teenager suffered an explosive injury, shrapnel wounds to his arms and legs and an acute stress reaction. He was hospitalized in moderate condition, Prokudin said. In Russia, an oil refinery in the Volgograd region caught fire after a Ukrainian drone attack overnight, according to local governor Andrei Bocharov. The refinery, one of the biggest producers of petroleum products in southern Russia, has been a frequent target of drone attacks, according to Russian independent news site Meduza. Overall, Russia's Defense Ministry reported destroying 44 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and the annexed Crimea overnight. In Belgorod, the biggest city in the namesake region on the border with Ukraine, three civilians were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said, adding that a government building was hit by the attack. ___ Follow AP's coverage of the war in Ukraine at
Vancouver Sun
40 minutes ago
- Vancouver Sun
Canadians are torn about whether to put their elbows up or down in U.S. trade war: poll
OTTAWA — Canadians are split on whether Canada should go into trade negotiations with the U.S. with elbows up or down when it comes to retaliatory tariffs, according to a new poll. The Leger/Postmedia poll suggests that 45 per cent of Canadians still believe Canada's position vis-à-vis U.S. President Donald Trump should be 'elbows up.' That means that Canada should impose counter-tariffs on all new U.S. border levies, even if it risks further retaliation from the Trump administration. But on the other hand, 41 per cent of respondents said they'd prefer Canada's response be 'measured' and focus more on getting a new trade deal even if it includes some tariffs on Canadian goods. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. The split among Canadians puts Prime Minister Mark Carney in somewhat of an 'awkward position' as he must navigate conflicting views on how to deal with an erratic and unpredictable Trump administration, said Leger executive vice-president Andrew Enns. On the one hand are those who still believe in the 'eye for an eye' approach with the U.S., and on the other hand is the growing number of Canadians who favour a slightly more conciliatory and measured approach. 'I think there's been a bit of a tempering, a bit of a diminishment of the 'elbows up' aggressive approach. It's still very present, and you know, not to be ignored,' Enns said. 'But I certainly would say that there's a stronger sort of view now starting to show up in Canadian opinion that says, 'Well hold on here, maybe we ought to think this through, let's not be hasty.' The new survey is in stark contrast to polling just six months ago, when a substantial 73 per cent of respondents told Leger they supported dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs against any U.S. border levy on Canadian goods. For Enns, it means many Canadians — and particularly Gen Xers and Boomers over 55 years old who expressed particularly fierce Canadian patriotism earlier this year — are having a moment of 'sober second thought' as the trade war with the U.S. drags on. The shift in public sentiment could also be a reflection of the change in tone from Carney himself. During the Liberal leadership race in February, Carney said he supported suggestions of dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs. But since becoming prime minister, he has not retaliated to any of Trump's new tariffs on such key Canadian sectors as steel, aluminum and automobiles. In fact, he suggested last week that Canada may remove some tariffs on U.S. imports if it's beneficial to Canadian industry. 'When we first started to feel the brunt of President Trump's trade aggression, you know, Canadians were much more bullish, much more aggressive in terms of retaliation,' Enns noted. 'The temperature has come down and you've got maybe a bit of sober second thought from Canadians saying that we have to figure out a way out of this and it's not going to be with ah 'I hit you, you hit me, I hit you back' kind of thing.' Canadians, however, aren't overwhelmingly supportive of opening specific industries to American competition. Roughly half the respondents said they were willing to allow American-owned airlines to fly domestic routes in Canada or authorize U.S. telecommunication companies to operate on Canadian soil. Even fewer (33 per cent) are willing to loosen supply management rules protecting the Canadian dairy industry to let in more U.S. products. 'I would not say there's a groundswell of support and a sort of blank cheque for Carney, for the prime minister, to open up negotiations on these things,' Enns said. 'But it is kind of interesting that there's about half the population that, all things equal, think 'I'm open to hearing what that would look like'.' Carney's Liberals also appear to have peaked in their popularity with Canadians this summer, the poll suggests. After months of rising support since the April 28 election, the Liberals' popularity dipped for the first time, dropping two points to 46 per cent since July 7, the poll says. But Carney's party still holds a significant lead over Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives (36 per cent) and the NDP, led by interim head Don Davies (six per cent), who both saw their parties' support increase by one point over the past month. Total satisfaction in the Carney government also dipped slightly by one point though it remains high at 54 per cent. Enns says it's too early to say Carney's honeymoon with Canadians is over, although the data suggest the prime minister may have found his popularity ceiling. 'We may have seen the high watermark for Liberal support, and as we head into the fall and some of these issues start to become more pointed… I would imagine that would be an interesting juncture for the government,' Enns said. 'It wouldn't surprise me to see a very gradual narrowing of that gap' between Liberals and Conservatives come the fall, he added. The polling firm Leger surveyed 1,617 respondents as part of an online survey conducted between Aug. 1-4. Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not use random sampling of the population. National Post cnardi@ Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here .
Edmonton Journal
40 minutes ago
- Edmonton Journal
Canadians are torn about whether to put their elbows up or down in U.S. trade war: poll
OTTAWA — Canadians are split on whether Canada should go into trade negotiations with the U.S. with elbows up or down when it comes to retaliatory tariffs, according to a new poll. Article content The Leger/Postmedia poll suggests that 45 per cent of Canadians still believe Canada's position vis-à-vis U.S. President Donald Trump should be 'elbows up.' That means that Canada should impose counter-tariffs on all new U.S. border levies, even if it risks further retaliation from the Trump administration. Article content Article content Article content But on the other hand, 41 per cent of respondents said they'd prefer Canada's response be 'measured' and focus more on getting a new trade deal even if it includes some tariffs on Canadian goods. Article content Article content The split among Canadians puts Prime Minister Mark Carney in somewhat of an 'awkward position' as he must navigate conflicting views on how to deal with an erratic and unpredictable Trump administration, said Leger executive vice-president Andrew Enns. Article content On the one hand are those who still believe in the 'eye for an eye' approach with the U.S., and on the other hand is the growing number of Canadians who favour a slightly more conciliatory and measured approach. Article content 'I think there's been a bit of a tempering, a bit of a diminishment of the 'elbows up' aggressive approach. It's still very present, and you know, not to be ignored,' Enns said. Article content 'But I certainly would say that there's a stronger sort of view now starting to show up in Canadian opinion that says, 'Well hold on here, maybe we ought to think this through, let's not be hasty.' Article content Article content The new survey is in stark contrast to polling just six months ago, when a substantial 73 per cent of respondents told Leger they supported dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs against any U.S. border levy on Canadian goods. Article content Article content For Enns, it means many Canadians — and particularly Gen Xers and Boomers over 55 years old who expressed particularly fierce Canadian patriotism earlier this year — are having a moment of 'sober second thought' as the trade war with the U.S. drags on. Article content The shift in public sentiment could also be a reflection of the change in tone from Carney himself. During the Liberal leadership race in February, Carney said he supported suggestions of dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs. Article content But since becoming prime minister, he has not retaliated to any of Trump's new tariffs on such key Canadian sectors as steel, aluminum and automobiles. In fact, he suggested last week that Canada may remove some tariffs on U.S. imports if it's beneficial to Canadian industry.
