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IOL News
14-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
SA Government rejects ‘refugee' label for Afrikaners resettled in US
The first group of Afrikaners from South Africa arriving for resettlement in the US Image: SAUL LOEB / AFP A group of 49 South African Afrikaners has officially been granted asylum in the United States and arrived on American soil this past week, prompting concern and condemnation from the South African government. The US cited ongoing racial discrimination, farm attacks, and threats of expropriation without compensation as the basis for offering refugee protection, calling it a humanitarian response to the 'persecution of Afrikaners'. In a statement, the United States government said, 'This tremendous accomplishment, at the direction of Secretary Rubio, responds to President Trump's call to prioritise U.S. refugee resettlement of this vulnerable group facing unjust racial discrimination in South Africa. We stand with these refugees as they build a better future for themselves and their children in the United States.' The US added that 'no one should have to fear having their property seized without compensation or becoming the victim of violent attacks because of their ethnicity,' noting that more Afrikaners will be welcomed in the coming months. The move, however, was met with sharp criticism in Pretoria. Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation, confirmed that Deputy Minister Alvin Botes held a 'cordial discussion' with US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on 9 May 2025, following engagements via diplomatic channels. 'The Government expressed concerns with the information conveyed that the United States has commenced with processing alleged refugees from South Africa and will begin resettling these citizens in the United States,' Phiri said. South Africa pointed to the internationally recognised 1951 Refugee Convention, which defines a refugee as someone with a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, social group, or political opinion. 'We reiterate that allegations of discrimination are unfounded. The South Africa Police Service statistics on farm-related crimes do not support allegations of violent crime targeted at farmers generally or any particular race,' said Phiri. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ The U.S. granted refugee status to 49 white Afrikaners Image: Marco Longari / AFP He added that there are sufficient legal structures within the country to address any claims of discrimination and that such claims 'do not meet the threshold of persecution required under domestic and international refugee law.' AfriForum, the civil rights organisation who has previously spoken out about the farm murders in 2024, submitted a formal letter to the Minister of Police detailing a spate of brutal farm attacks between October and December that year. These included the murder of two women, aged 52 and 82, in Eikenhof; a 68-year-old man in Meyerton stabbed to death during a home invasion; a 32-year-old game farm manager shot dead in Parys; and the murder of a 41-year-old woman in Lydenburg. In Rouxville, a 56-year-old man was shot dead while his wife was abducted and later rescued. In Fouriesburg, a 56-year-old security guard was killed and a farmer hospitalised following a farm attack. A 45-year-old man was also murdered in Hendrina, and his elderly parents brutally assaulted. AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said, 'The fact that the first group of Afrikaners has now left the country as refugees is a serious indictment against the ANC-led government, which continues to refuse to condemn calls for violence against Afrikaners, such as 'Kill the Boer.'' He said the move was the result of state-led discrimination, including the Expropriation Act which allows land seizure without compensation. Several Afrikaners have previously marched in Pretoria, supporting President Donald Trump and calling for recognition like Israel. Image: X (Twitter) 'AfriForum is determined, together with our colleagues in the Solidarity Movement, to continue our efforts to help build a future for Afrikaners here at the southern tip of Africa,' said Kriel. 'We will continue our safety and cultural infrastructure projects and maintain links with Afrikaners abroad through our Wereldwyd network.' However, not everyone agrees with the US's framing of the situation. Political and international relations analyst, and Director of Surgetower Associates Management Consultancy, Siseko Maposa, said: 'It must be unequivocally underscored that individuals seeking refugee status in the US on grounds of persecution in South Africa have done so on demonstrably false, speculative, and misleading premises. A plain reading of the Expropriation Act, the purported catalyst for these claims, reveals no unchecked state power to confiscate land.' 'The Act permits expropriation without compensation only under stringent procedural safeguards, rendering arbitrary seizure legally and practically implausible. Moreover, there exists no empirical evidence, nor any credible government pronouncement, to substantiate claims of systematic, state-tolerated violence against Afrikaners – it is simply a swindle,' he added. Maposa warned that those who have left under refugee status may face difficulties in returning: 'Under the UN Refugee Convention, host nations – in this case the USA – cannot send them back if their life or freedom would be at risk. This is only permissible should the refugees voluntarily return and seek their home country's protection or choose to resettle, effectively revoking their refugee status.' He further suggested that the US action was not purely humanitarian: 'This entire matter is less about genuine humanitarian concern and more a calculated geopolitical manoeuvre. The US is attempting to artificially inflate perceptions of human rights violations against Afrikaners to justify international pressure and isolate South Africa from its BRICS allies, including Russia, China, and Iran.' Despite the tension, South Africa has confirmed it will not prevent citizens from leaving the country, citing the constitutional right to freedom of movement. However, Phiri said the government has sought assurances from the US on the status of the departing individuals — including whether they have been vetted to ensure they have no pending criminal cases. Weekend Argus
Time Magazine
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Time Magazine
Trump Welcomes Planeload of South Africans, While Shutting Out Other Refugees
The first group of refugees brought into the U.S. since Donald Trump became President followed an unusual path. On his first day back in office, he suspended all refugee admissions to the U.S.—upending resettlement plans for thousands fearing persecution and violence. Eighteen days later, he announced an exception for white South Africans who 'are victims of unjust racial discrimination.' On Monday, the U.S. welcomed a chartered plane carrying about 50 Afrikaners, marking a new phase of the U.S. refugee program that looks nothing like what came before it. Trump's order specifically referred to Afrikaners, descendants of mainly Dutch colonial settlers who arrived in South Africa in the 1600s and controlled the country from 1948 to 1994 through the racial separation laws known as apartheid. Trump's action is in part a reaction to a 2024 South African law that seeks to address the concentration of agricultural land in the hands of white South Africans. 'Farmers are being killed,' Trump said Monday, when asked by a TIME reporter why Afrikaners were being accepted over refugees in other parts of Africa and the world. '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.' South African officials insist Trump's allegations of persecuted white South African farmers are unfounded. 'The South Africa Police Services statistics on farm related crimes do not support allegations of violent crime targeted at farmers generally or any particular race,' the country's Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation said in a recent statement. 'There are sufficient structures available within South Africa to address concerns of discrimination. Moreover, even if there are allegations of discrimination, it is our view that these do not meet the threshold of persecution required under domestic and international refugee law.' Stephen Miller, a White House deputy chief of staff, told reporters on Friday the first flight from South Africa is part of a 'much larger-scale relocation effort' and said what Afrikaners face in South Africa 'fits the textbook definition of why the refugee program was created.' Another key Trump ally, Elon Musk, was born in South Africa and has pressed for the U.S. to do more to protect white South Africans from what he described on his X platform as 'white genocide'. Refugees coming into the U.S. are typically vetted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which routinely refers people fleeing persecution and violence in their home countries to safer countries like the U.S. The arrivals from South Africa were not vetted by that office. On Monday, The Episcopal Church refused a Trump administration demand that it help resettle the Afrikaners in the U.S. The protestant church has worked with the federal government for four decades through Episcopal Migration Ministries to help newly arrived refugees find jobs and places to live in the U.S. 'It has been painful to watch one group of refugees, selected in a highly unusual manner, receive preferential treatment over many others who have been waiting in refugee camps or dangerous conditions for years,' wrote the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Rev. Sean W. Rowe, in a letter explaining the protestant church's decision to completely stop working with the federal government on refugee resettlement. Rowe wrote that the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program has been 'essentially shut down' since January, and he was 'saddened and ashamed' that many refugees denied entrance to the U.S. had served alongside the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan and now face danger at home because of their service. 'Jesus tells us to care for the poor and vulnerable as we would care for him, and we must follow that command,' Rowe wrote. The Trump administration is on track for a dramatic decline in new refugees this year. In the 2024 fiscal year, which ended in September, the U.S. admitted 100,034 people through its refugee program, up from 60,014 in 2023, and 25,465 in 2022. During the 2024 fiscal year, the largest group of refugees—34,017—came from Africa, followed by 7,540 from Asia, 3,180 from Europe and Central Asia, 5,106 from Latin America and the Caribbean, and 10,003 from the Near East and South Asia, according to figures from the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Bill Frelick, director of the refugee and migrants rights division of Human Rights Watch, says the Trump administration's decision to limit refugee admissions to a few dozen white South Africans undermines decades of efforts by the U.S. to welcome people in need. 'It sends a message that unless you're a member of a privileged group that the U.S. has a preference for, the door is closed to you entirely,' Frelick says. Frelick notes that the U.N. has a system to determine which refugees 'are most at risk and in need for resettlement.' By ignoring that, he says, the Trump Administration is 'setting a terrible example to other countries around the world.'
The South African
10-05-2025
- Politics
- The South African
Resettlement of Afrikaners as refugees in US politically motivated
The Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation says it appears that the resettlement of Afrikaners to the United States (US) under the guise of being 'refugees' is entirely politically motivated and designed to question the country's constitutional democracy. The New York Times reported that the first batch of White Afrikaners is expected in the United States on Monday, 12 May. The country plans to transport them on a charter flight scheduled to leave Johannesburg on Sunday, 11 May. Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump insisted that terrible things are happening in South Africa and accused the Cyril Ramaphosa-led government of confiscating land from farmers and minority groups using the Expropriation Act. Thereafter, he offered the white Afrikaners asylum. The Department of International Relations and Cooperation said its Deputy Minister Alvin Botes held a cordial discussion with the United States Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau, on Friday, 9 May. The Department said the discussion follows engagements via the diplomatic channels where the government expressed concerns with the information conveyed that the United States has commenced with processing alleged refugees from South Africa and will begin resettling these citizens in the United States. Dirco said that the internationally recognised definition of refugees as set out in the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol is someone with a 'well-founded fear of persecution' based on race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. The department said South Africa acknowledges that the determination of refugee status requires a factual assessment in light of the prevailing circumstances, having due regard for both subjective and objective factors. 'We reiterate that allegations of discrimination are unfounded. The South African Police Service (SAPS) statistics on farm related crimes do not support allegations of violent crime targeted at farmers generally or any particular race. There are sufficient structures available within South Africa to address concerns of discrimination. Moreover, even if there are allegations of discrimination, it is our view that these do not meet the threshold of persecution required under domestic and international refugee law. 'It is most regrettable that it appears that the resettlement of South Africans to the United States under the guise of being 'refugees' is entirely politically motivated and designed to question South Africa's constitutional democracy; a country which has in fact suffered true persecution under Apartheid rule and has worked tirelessly to prevent such levels of discrimination from ever occurring again, including through the entrenchment of rights in our Constitution, which is enforced vigorously through our judicial system. In addition, it is not clear how the principle of non-refoulement will be applied in relation to these citizens once they are resettled,' Dirco said. The New York Times further also reported that the Trump administration is preparing to help the Afrikaners find 'temporary or longer-term housing' and 'basic home furnishings, essential household items and cleaning supplies. The administration is also planning to help the Afrikaners secure groceries, weather-appropriate clothing, diapers, formula, hygiene products and prepaid phones that support the day-to-day well-being of households. Dirco said while South Africa challenges the United States' assessments of alleged refugee status, it will not block citizens who seek to depart the country from doing so, as it also observes their right of freedom of movement and freedom of choice, specifically the right to leave the country, as contained in section 21(2) of the Constitution. However, South Africa must ensure that it is compliant with other domestic laws and prescripts. 'Through the diplomatic channels the Department of International Relations and Cooperation has sought the status of persons that will be departing, whether as asylum seekers, refugees or ordinary citizens; and assurances as to whether the persons have been appropriately vetted by competent South African authorities to ensure that they do not have any outstanding criminal cases pending against them, amongst others,' Phiri added. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
Daily Maverick
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Pretoria challenges Trump's plans to resettle Afrikaners as refugees
Dirco has challenged the US government's plans to resettle Afrikaners as refugees, suggesting that the US claims of discrimination against them are baseless. In a call with the US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Friday, 9 May, International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Alvin Botes challenged the assertion that Afrikaners qualify for refugee status, calling the allegations of discrimination against the group 'unfounded'. 'It is most regrettable that it appears that the resettlement of South Africans to the United States under the guise of being 'refugees' is entirely politically motivated and designed to question South Africa's (SA's) constitutional democracy; a country which has in fact suffered true persecution under apartheid rule and has worked tirelessly to prevent such levels of discrimination from ever occurring again, including through the entrenchment of rights in our Constitution, which is enforced vigorously through our judicial system. 'In addition, it is not clear how the principle of non-refoulement will be applied in relation to these citizens once they are resettled,' said Botes, according to a statement issued by the Department International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) on Friday evening. Dirco said the conversation between Botes and Landau followed engagements via diplomatic channels where Pretoria had expressed concerns with information conveyed that Washington had begun processing alleged refugees from SA to resettle them in the US. First group next week On Friday, The New York Times reported that US President Donald Trump's administration is planning to bring the first group of white South Africans it has classified as refugees to the US as early as next week. Although Trump halted nearly all other refugee admissions shortly after returning to the White House in January, the publication reported his administration has quickly put together a programme to allow white Afrikaners, who claim to be victims of government-sponsored, race-based discrimination, to be accepted in the US. The Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation confirms that Deputy Minister Alvin Botes held a cordial discussion with the United States Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on the 9th May 2025. The discussion follows engagements via the diplomatic channels… — Chrispin Phiri 🇿🇦 (@Chrispin_JPhiri) May 9, 2025 The Trump administration plans to send US government officials to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia for an event marking the arrival of 54 Afrikaners to the US on Monday, according to The New York Times report. Diplomatic ties between Pretoria and Washington have deteriorated significantly since Trump's return to the White House. (Read here, here and here.) In February this year, the US president ordered that all US foreign assistance to SA be halted and that his administration promote the resettlement of 'Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored, race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation' in SA. In an executive order, titled ' Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa ', Trump accused the South African government of, under the Expropriation Act, seizing 'ethnic minority Afrikaners' agricultural property without compensation', a claim Pretoria has repeatedly denied. According to The New York Times report, soon after announcing that Afrikaners are eligible for refugee status, the Trump administration deployed teams to Pretoria to vet white South Africans for consideration, according to documents seen by the publication. Of more than 8,000 requests from people who were interested in becoming refugees studied by the teams, the US government identified 100 Afrikaners who potentially could be approved, the report added. Allegations of discrimination 'unfounded' 'South Africa acknowledges that the determination of refugee status requires a factual assessment in light of the prevailing circumstances, having due regard for both subjective and objective factors,' said Botes. 'We reiterate that allegations of discrimination are unfounded. The South Africa Police Services (SAPS) statistics on farm-related crimes do not support allegations of violent crime targeted at farmers generally or any particular race. There are sufficient structures available within South Africa to address concerns of discrimination. Moreover, even if there are allegations of discrimination, it is our view that these do not meet the threshold of persecution required under domestic and international refugee law,' he said. 'Through progressive judgements from the South African courts, particularly the Constitutional Court, our state has demonstrated a principled commitment to protect minorities and vulnerable groups, this shows the extent to which South Africa is working towards a country in which every citizen is free and protected.' Botes said that through the diplomatic channels, Dirco had sought the status of people who would be departing, whether as asylum seekers, refugees or ordinary citizens; and assurances that they have been appropriately vetted by competent South African authorities to ensure that they do not have any outstanding criminal cases against them. However, he added that while SA challenges the US' assessment of alleged refugee status, 'it will not block citizens who seek to depart the country from doing so, as it also observes their right of freedom of movement and freedom of choice, specifically the right to leave the country, as contained in Section 21(2) of the Constitution'. DM
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
South Africa says Trump executive order freezing aid 'lacks factual accuracy'
Feb. 8 (UPI) -- South Africa is responding to an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump, saying the move to freeze American aid "lacks factual accuracy." Trump on Friday signed an order to stop financial assistance to South Africa, which he accuses of having a "shocking disregard of its citizens' rights" after passing legislation "to enable the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners' agricultural property without compensation." South Africa on Saturday fired back, accusing the Trump administration of misinterpreting its new laws "It is of great concern that the foundational premise of this order lacks factual accuracy and fails to recognise South Africa's profound and painful history of colonialism and apartheid," the country's Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation said in a statement. "We are concerned by what seems to be a campaign of misinformation and propaganda aimed at misrepresenting our great nation. It is disappointing to observe that such narratives seem to have found favour among decision-makers in the United States of America." White South Africans currently account for less than 8% of the country's population. The law replaces the country's Expropriation Act of 1975, which was put in place before South Africa gained democracy in 1994. Trump's executive order also calls out the African nation for taking "aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice, and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements." Trump also accused South Africa of "undermining" U.S. foreign policy, causing a national security threat. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed Wednesday he would boycott the upcoming G20 meeting in South Africa because of the new law. The meeting is slated to take place Feb. 20 and 21 in Johannesburg. South Africa holds the G20 presidency until the end of November. "It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the US for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people in the US from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship," Saturday's statement from South Africa states. "We reiterate that South Africa remains committed to finding diplomatic solutions to any misunderstandings or disputes."
