Latest news with #SeanRowe
Business Insider
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Insider
Trump's support for white South African farmers stirs controversy among churches
The United States government's decision to launch a special resettlement program for white South African refugees has prompted a wave of moral and theological critique from church leaders both at home and abroad. The U.S. government initiated a special resettlement program for white South African refugees, citing risks of race-based targeting. Major Christian organizations criticized the policy for being m orally selective and subverting humanitarian principles. The policy, announced through an executive order earlier this year, singles out Afrikaner white descendants of Dutch settlers in South Africa for preferential refugee status. According to the U.S. State Department, the initiative to offer refugee status to white South African farmers is meant to offer protection to ' communities at risk of race-based expropriation and targeted violence. ' But major Christian bodies say the policy undermines the core values of humanitarian protection and Christian ethics. Church withdrawals mark a turning point Within weeks of the policy taking effect, the Episcopal Church (USA) announced it would sever its longstanding refugee resettlement partnership with the federal government. In a public letter, Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe called the program 'morally selective' and incompatible with the Church's mission to serve 'the least of these' without prejudice. ' This is not how Christ taught us to welcome the stranger, ' Rowe wrote, explaining the church's decades-long commitment to refugee advocacy that cuts across race, nationality, and political status. The Episcopal Church's decision to end its resettlement program by September 2025 follows months of internal deliberation. Church officials described the administration's refugee criteria as ethically flawed, privileging groups that do not meet the standard international definition of persecution. Solidarity across continents In South Africa, the policy has also met resistance from religious quarters. Anglican Archbishop Thabo Makgoba commended the Episcopal Church's stance, calling it ' a powerful witness to justice and gospel truth.' Makgoba, a well-respected moral voice in South Africa, emphasized that Afrikaners are not a marginalized or persecuted group in the country. ' We cannot equate the discomfort of lost political power with actual persecution, ' he said, noting that South Africa's constitution protects the rights of all its citizens, including landowners. The archbishop also challenged the narrative of ' genocide' against white farmers, a claim that has repeatedly been discredited by both South African law enforcement and independent human rights groups. Catholic Bishops reevaluate participation The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), another major player in refugee and migrant services, has also signaled a withdrawal. In April, the bishops opted not to renew federal contracts related to refugee resettlement and children's services. While financial uncertainties played a role, Church leaders pointed to deep ethical discomfort. Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the USCCB, warned against refugee policies driven by ideology rather than need. In a public homily, he urged U.S. Catholics to ' remember the biblical mandate to welcome the stranger without condition.' Vatican-affiliated media outlets have echoed similar sentiments, cautioning against any policy that ' weaponizes charity ' by assigning worth to human lives based on ethnicity or political narrative. Despite White House claims that the program addresses a specific humanitarian crisis, faith leaders argue that such selective resettlement only widens global inequality and undermines the moral authority of refugee protections. At the heart of their protest is a question older than any policy document: Who is our neighbor? As the Church disengages from this program, it sends a broader message that compassion, if truly rooted in faith, cannot be partial. In the words of Bishop Rowe:
TimesLIVE
15-05-2025
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
US Episcopal Church's frostiness is a hint — the ‘refugees' are in for a shock
Even before the 49 Afrikaner 'refugees' landed at Dulles International Airport near Washington DC on Monday, the Episcopal Church (we use the term Anglican) in that country made it clear that they would refuse to 'resettle' these white South Africans. The reasons were many, according to a story by the Associated Press. These were not 'refugees' by any stretch of the imagination. Said a conservative Christian friend in the US, never have fleeing refugees had so many earthly goods weighing down airport trolleys, and that after alighting from a private charter plane, nogal. In refusing, presiding Bishop Sean Rowe of Episcopal Migration Services was defying a federal government instruction to resettle white South Africans, citing his church's 'commitment to racial justice and reconciliation'. Yes, the church had a refugee resettlement grant with the federal government, but this distasteful act of racial provocation flew in the face of a long history of working with the Anglican Church of South Africa fighting the real racism of apartheid oppression. In other words, the Episcopalians saw right through this racist charade and took a stand that will surely exact a price from a vengeful Donald Trump. The white South Africans had jumped the queue. Real refugees wait for years to go through vetting processes and might still not get in. So what's the rush? Trump was doing what he does best: give a racist dog whistle to white supremacists around the globe. I am your man. These poor souls in South Africa, whose ears are well-attuned to shrill racist sounds, jumped to attention. The motley group that made their way to the US Embassy in South Africa are not wealthy farmers who lost their farms; these are ordinary whites, as brilliant historian Neil Roos called them, suddenly receiving attention from a white supremacist with a bully pulpit and enormous political clout. Like a used condom, Trump will discard them for he would have got out of the 'refugees' what he wanted — a political quickie to impress his MAGA base. Pushing white South Africans to the front of the refugee queue should not surprise us. Long before Trump even heard about South Africa (or Lesotho, the country he claimed nobody knows about), he called African nations 'shithole countries'. Channelling Hitler, Trump said of immigrants from Africa and Asia that they were 'poisoning the blood of our country'. On more than one occasion then candidate Trump expressed his preference for immigrants from 'nice countries' like Denmark or Switzerland. Whites, in other words. I hope these 'refugees', should they have any capacity for self-reflection, will see that their saviour is the same man who sent a legitimate American resident with a dark skin to a prison hellhole in El Salvador leaving his family in huge distress; that a brown-skinned mother had her little girl wrested from her arms and sent from Florida to Cuba; that a young Muslim student was thrown into the slammer for daring to co-write a pro-Palestinian editorial for her college newspaper. Or maybe they too don't give a damn; after all, those persecuted are not white people like themselves. The 'refugees' are in for a shock. There are millions of Americans disgusted with the racist bond between them and Trump that unfairly fast-tracked their clearance into a foreign country; it will not be long before they get an earful from the locals. From all over the US, I have received messages of shock and disgust that they came into their country on an openly racist ticket. The group will soon discover that Trump's Executive Order 14224 made English the official language (another political stunt) and that it will be hard to communicate in cultural isolation. Then they will find that having been part of this racist complot, it is going to be difficult to secure well-paying work in an economy reeling from Trump's tariffs, and this time you cannot blame 'the blacks'. Like a used condom, Trump will discard them for he would have got out of the 'refugees' what he wanted — a political quickie to impress his MAGA base. When that realisation hits them, I comfortably predict that some of the 'refugees' will begin to make their way home perhaps even before Trump leaves office in less than four years. Unlike the oppressive white state that spawned them, this government will not issue the 'refugees' one-way tickets into exile as was done to thousands of South Africans who had the decency to resist apartheid. Our government, with all its faults, has been remarkably restrained, even generous, in their handling of these people whom, make no mistake, spat in the faces of black South Africans with this dastardly act. They cheapened the hard work of reconciliation and showed no grace having been let off the hook for the crime of apartheid. As I searched the faces of the 'refugees' in photographs of them leaving Johannesburg and arriving in the Washington area, I felt for the young children with them. The little ones had no say in the matter, and I can only hope that they will one day wake up to the knowledge that they were pawns in a tryst with the devil.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Genocide' or ‘white victimhood'? Why Afrikaners are the only refugees welcome in Trump's America
Credit: Reuters Even by the standards of the past four months, it was an extraordinary moment, as what are apparently the first refugees to be allowed into the United States since Donald Trump issued a blanket ban landed this week at Dulles Airport near Washington, DC. They were not from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Sudan or any of the world's other active war zones. They were from South Africa. And they were all white Afrikaners. Race has little to do with refugee status. But the incident has thrust into the spotlight not only the increasingly bitter relationship between Pretoria and Washington, but also Donald Trump's own contentious focus on what has been called 'white victimhood'. In America, the news has been predictably divisive. The White House trumpeted the arrival of the 59 as a triumph, claiming they were victims of 'racial discrimination', and hinted that they were escaping a 'genocide'. An under-secretary of state was dispatched to welcome them. But the Episcopal Church, which has long been given US government grants to resettle refugees in America, responded by saying it would refuse to do so in this case, citing its 'steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation'. Bishop Sean Rowe said it was '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'. In South Africa, the news was met with a mixture of outrage, glee and bemusement. Chrispin Phiri, a foreign ministry spokesman, insisted that 'these are not refugees' yet added: 'We are not going to stand in their way.' Kallie Kriel, the CEO of AfriForum, an influential Afrikaner pressure group which has previously called for white people to stay in South Africa, said the flight was a 'direct result of the [African National Congress] ANC-led government's targeting of Afrikaners through discriminatory racial legislation'. Other South Africans – including Afrikaners – have rolled their eyes at the entire episode. 'This is about Trump's America. It really isn't about us,' said Max du Preez, a prominent Afrikaner journalist. 'There's an awful lot wrong in South Africa, but the persecution of white Afrikaners is not one of them.' The fury of the American Episcopalians is rooted in concern at a double standard – one it clearly believes is rooted in race. In the fiscal year from October 2023 to September 2024, America resettled 100,034 refugees, the highest number admitted in a single year since 1994. Yet on his first day in office, Donald Trump signed an executive order banning refugees entry 'until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States'. That includes applicants from war zones. A little over two weeks later, he signed another, ordering the government to promote and prioritise 'the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation'. The order, which also froze all aid and other funding to South Africa and accused its government of supporting Hamas and Iran, grants a small group of white people the only exception to an otherwise global ban on refugees. By then, Washington's relationship with South Africa had been deteriorating for some time. In December 2023, the ANC-led government in Pretoria brought a case of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice in the Hague. But the immediate trigger was a new South African law allowing the state to seize land without compensation, provided it was in the 'public interest'. The bill, signed into law by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa in January, allows for expropriation without compensation only when it is 'just and equitable and in the public interest' – such as when the property is unused. It does not mention race. But land ownership is a hugely contentious issue in South Africa, where three-quarters of farmland is owned by white people, who make up just 7 per cent of the population. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, announced he would snub a G20 meeting in Johannesburg the following month, stating: 'South Africa is doing very bad things. Expropriating private property.' Shortly afterwards Mr Rubio expelled Ebrahim Rasool, South Africa's ambassador to Washington, on the grounds of being 'a race-baiting politician who hates America.' Mr Rasool had said that the Maga movement is a response to a 'supremacist instinct' and demographic trends that suggest whites will become a minority in the United States for the first time by the mid 2040s. Meanwhile Elon Musk, Mr Trump's South-African born 'first buddy', accused his homeland of 'racist ownership laws' which equate to 'genocide' against white farmers. Trump repeated that wording on Monday, saying 'white farmers' were being targeted specifically. Credit: Reuters 'It's a genocide 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 being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa,' he said. If Afrikaner nationalists have been making the rounds of Maga-affiliated media in recent weeks, describing a South Africa on the brink of collapse and a community facing deep levels of persecution, the South African government certainly sees Mr Musk as the driving force behind Donald Trump's policy making. When Mr Trump first signed the executive order, for example, Mr Ramaphosa reached out to Elon Musk's father Errol, who still lives in South Africa, to see if he could arrange a phone call with the tycoon. Errol Musk later told The Telegraph the two spoke for several minutes. Ramaphosa himself has rejected the allegations of 'genocide' levelled by the US administration. 'A refugee is someone who has to leave their country out of fear of political persecution, religious persecution, or economic persecution,' the South African leader said of those arriving in the US. 'And they don't fit that bill.' The notion of 'white genocide' has gained traction in certain sections of the white, and particularly rural, Afrikaner community over the past ten years. 'It has emerged on the back of very, violent crimes of murder, torture and other things that have happened to the Afrikaner community, and very specifically to rural Afrikaner farmers,' says Marius Oosthuizen, a Pretoria-based consultant. 'There's a faction of the Afrikaners who feel very threatened, very embattled, both because of insecurity and crime and the threat of land expropriation.' There is plenty of debate about whether that is justified. Figures collated by South African police show that in 2024, 44 murders were recorded on farms and smaller plots of agricultural land. While the country does not release crime statistics broken down by race, eight of those killed were farmers. Mr Du Preez points out that everyone in South Africa (where around 20,000 murders are committed annually) suffers from insecurity, and that living in black or coloured townships is statistically vastly more dangerous than being a white farmer, however. The farm murders are a genuine problem, he says, but are a matter of common criminality. 'Study after study failed to find any kind of political motivation,' he says. There is no comparison to Robert Mugabe's evictions of white farmers from Zimbabwe in the 2000s, either in intent, scale, or effect, he points out. There are clear tensions nonetheless, and there has long been frustration in South Africa over the sluggish pace of land reform in the decades since the end of apartheid. While redistribution of land ownership has always been part of the post-apartheid project, it has always previously involved compensating those who give up their property. But AfriForm, a Right-wing pressure group, explicitly links the new property law to the refugees who landed in Dulles, saying it 'permits expropriation without compensation, and also places Afrikaners and other landowners in the government's crossfire'. No land is understood to have yet been seized under the act. Defenders of the legislation say it is less likely to be used against farmers than for taking control of derelict and abandoned buildings and sites in city centres. But the law passed earlier this year does mirror the populist rhetoric of Julius Malema, a former ANC firebrand who now leads a populist rival to the ANC called the Economic Freedom Fighters. He has long demanded expropriation without compensation. 'When they did this, they did it through a constitutional review process, and so the ANC will argue that they are doing it within the ambit of the law, that it's not aimed at white South Africans. But if you look at the fundamentals, it's really about the ability of government to expropriate white-owned land,' says Dr Oosthuizen. Combine that with Mr Malema's salty rhetoric, including adoption of a song with the line 'kill the Boer,' and many rural Afrikaners feel genuinely threatened, he adds. So while the 59 who arrived in Dulles airport on Monday afternoon are the first to take advantage of the refugee exemption, more may be on the way. In March, the South African Chamber of Commerce in the United States said it had handed the US embassy in Pretoria the details of nearly 70,000 South Africans who contacted it for more information about the refugee scheme. Demand was huge, it reported 'It just spread like wildfire. I had 7,500 emails in my mailbox. Over 2500 texts, WhatsApps and messages. Basically our mail server crashed,' Neil Diamond, the head of the chamber, told television channel Newzroom Afrika at the time. How many will really leave? Those who really believe in 'white genocide', want to leave the country or establish a separate state 'are the crazies of our society,' says Mr Du Preez. 'They're tiny even among conservative Afrikaners,' said. There is a reason Afrikaners named themselves after the continent, he points out. They regard themselves as indigenous, and on the whole intend to stay. More important than the number of refugees, say some, is the message they send. Stephen Grootes, a South African radio host, argues in the liberal newspaper Daily Maverick, that Mr Trump simply 'needs to prove to his own constituency that white people are 'victims'.' Mr Oosthuizen agrees. The refugee flights, he suggests, may play to a domestic political audience in America: 'In America's own political discourse there is a racial element – black lives matter, family values, and the battle for preservation of white America. That definitely motivates some of the Republican base.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Fox News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Episcopal Church refuses to resettle White South African refugees in clash with Trump administration
Print Close By Louis Casiano Published May 13, 2025 The Episcopal Church's migration service said it will refuse the Trump administration's request to help resettle dozens of White South Africans granted refugee status by the federal government. In a statement, Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe said the Episcopal Migration Ministries will instead terminate its partnership with the government. The announcement came shortly before 59 South Africans arrived in the United States. "In light of our church's steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, we are not able to take this step," Rowe said of the government's request that the church help resettle the South African citizens. "Accordingly, we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our refugee resettlement grant agreements with the U.S. federal government." TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MAKES NEW MOVE TO BRING SOUTH AFRICAN REFUGEES TO US AS PRESIDENT BLASTS NATION'S RULERS AGAIN He cited their "preferential treatment" over others more deserving by jumping ahead of the line. "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," said Rowe. "I am saddened and ashamed that many of the refugees who are being denied entrance to the United States are brave people who worked alongside our military in Iraq and Afghanistan and now face danger at home because of their service to our country." "I also grieve that victims of religious persecution, including Christians, have not been granted refuge in recent months," he added. The move came after President Donald Trump fast-tracked refugee status for the White South Africans, citing discrimination by their government, while also shutting down most refugee resettlement programs. JD VANCE CLASHES WITH CBS ANCHOR OVER UNVETTED REFUGEES: 'I DON'T WANT THAT PERSON IN MY COUNTRY' The Trump administration has harshly criticized the government of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa over a land expropriation bill, which, under some circumstances, allows for expropriation of land without compensation. Trump has said the bill discriminates against White South Africans. The White House told Fox News Digital that the church's stance raises questions about its "supposed" commitment to humanitarian aid. "Any religious group should support the plight of Afrikaners, who have been terrorized, brutalized and persecuted by the South African government," a spokesperson said. "The Afrikaners have faced unspeakable horrors and are no less deserving of refugee resettlement than the hundreds of thousands of others who were allowed into the United States during the past administration. President Trump has made it clear: refugee resettlement should be about need, not politics." Episcopal Migration Ministries has helped resettled refugees under federal grants for nearly four decades. However, just over two weeks ago, the government told the EMM that under the terms of its federal grant, it was expected to resettle White South Africans whom the U.S. government has classified as refugees, Rowe said. He said the church will work to find other ways to service refugees. Meanwhile, Church World Service, another faith-based agency that assists refugees, said it remains committed to serving eligible refugees. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "We are concerned that the U.S. Government has chosen to fast-track the admission of Afrikaners, while actively fighting court orders to provide life-saving resettlement to other refugee populations who are in desperate need of resettlement," Rick Santos, CWS president and CEO, said in a statement. Santos urged Congress and the Trump administration to "restore a robust refugee resettlement program that prioritizes refugee families who remain in grave danger." Print Close URL
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Church rebukes Trump over white South African refugees
The Episcopal Church has abruptly ended its longstanding partnership with the White House over a refusal to help resettle white South Africans granted refugee status by Donald Trump. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe announced the church's decision the day after the first batch of the South Africans landed in Virginia after the Trump administration fast-tracked their applications. The group comprises 49 Afrikaners - a white minority group in South Africa - who the Trump administration says have had their land seized by the South African government without compensation, an allegation denied by Cape Town. Trump issued an executive order in February accusing the South African government of facilitating a 'genocide' against white farmers. However, some have alleged Trump is stoking racial tensions and prioritizing white applicants while simultaneously shutting down much of South Africa's refugee program. After fast-tracking the refugee applications of the Afrikaners, the Episcopal Church announced this week it was ending its program to help resettle the South African migrants as it cites its 'commitment to racial justice and reconciliation.' The church also cited its ties to the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, with Rowe saying the church was against showing 'preferential treatment' to one group of refugees over another. Rowe said the church has pledged to shut down its migration services' links to the federal government entirely by the end of the year, in a clear show of protest against Trump's acceptance of the 49 Afrikaners. The move from the Episcopal Church marks the end of almost four decades of work with the federal government to help resettle refugees. The fallout primarily stems from Trump's moves to rapidly reshape and downsize the federal government since retaking office, including ending almost all foreign aid through the now-gutted USAID program. While the Trump administration shut down legal pathways for many refugees to enter the US - including in South Africa - his decision to facilitate the applications from the Afrikaners to escape alleged genocide has led to claims of preferential treatment. While the Church World Service said it would be open to resettling the South Africans, it has also publicly stated they should not be fast-tracked while 'life-saving resettlement to other refugee populations' is rejected. Another faith-based aid group, the World Relief, also urged the White House to continue migration programs 'for a broad range of individuals who have fled persecution on account of their faith, political opinion, race, or other reasons outlined under US law.' Before the migrants arrived this week in Virginia, Collen Msibi, a spokesman for South Africa's transport ministry, said the 49 refugees would have to be vetted by police to ensure there were no criminal cases or outstanding warrants against them before being allowed to leave. When Trump was asked about the South Africans arrival, he said: 'It's a genocide that's taking place, and you people don't want to write about it. 'It's a terrible thing that's taking place, and the farmers are being killed; they happen to be white. Whether they are white or black makes no difference to me, but white farmers are being brutally killed, and their land is being confiscated in South Africa. Top Trump adviser, South African-born Elon Musk, has previously said there was a 'genocide of white people' in South Africa and accused the government of passing 'racist ownership laws.' The flight will be the first in a 'much larger-scale relocation effort', according to White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller. He added that what was happening to Afrikaners in South Africa 'fits the textbook definition of why the refugee program was created', adding: 'This is persecution based on a protected characteristic – in this case, race. This is race-based persecution.' But the South African government has firmly rejected these accusations. They do not qualify for that status, according to us,' Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said at a press briefing on Monday. 'There is no data at all that backs that there is persecution of white South Africans,' he added, saying crime in South Africa affects everyone irrespective of race. In a statement on Friday, South Africa's Foreign Ministry said accusations the government discriminated against the country's white minority were 'unfounded' and the US's resettlement scheme was an attempt to undermine the country's 'constitutional democracy'. The clash also comes amid heightened tensions between the Trump administration and South Africa. In March, South Africa's ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, was expelled after accusing Trump of using 'white victimhood as a dog whistle', leading to the US accusing Mr Rasool of 'race-baiting'. Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has cut all US financial assistance to South Africa, citing disapproval of its land policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington's ally, Israel. There are around 2.7 million Afrikaners among South Africa's population of 62 million, which is more than 80 per cent black. Whites still own three-quarters of private land and have about 20 times the wealth of the black majority, according to international academic journal the Review of Political Economy. Pictured: South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa.
