Latest news with #WashingtonDulles
CNN
12-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
White South Africans granted refugee status by Trump administration arrive in US
A flight carrying a group of 59 White South Africans granted refugee status in the United States by the Trump administration arrived at Washington Dulles airport in Virginia on Monday, a State Department official said. The Trump administration has moved to not only admit but to expedite the processing of Afrikaners as refugees for alleged discrimination. At the same time, it has suspended virtually all other refugee resettlement, including for people fleeing war and famine. The policy has drawn criticism from the South African government and from refugee advocates. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday that those going to the US 'do not fit the definition of a refugee.' Ramaphosa said he told Donald Trump that what the US president had been told about the persecution of the White minority group was not true. 'Those people who have fled are not being persecuted, they are not being hounded, they are not being treated badly,' he said at a panel at the Africa CEO Forum in Cote d'Ivoire moderated by CNN's Larry Madowo. 'They are leaving ostensibly because they don't want to embrace the changes that are taking place in our country in accordance with our constitution,' Ramaphosa said. Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International, called the policy 'a racialized immigration program masquerading as refugee resettlement, while real refugees remain stranded.' 'The main problem is denying protection to any other refugees from anywhere else in the world,' he said. 'There are millions of refugees around the world - people who have had to flee their home countries due to war or persecution – who have far more need for protection than anyone in this group – none of whom, to my knowledge, had been forced to flee from South Africa.' In remarks on Friday, senior White House official Stephen Miller said the arrivals this week are 'the beginning of what's going to be a much larger-scale relocation effort.' Since Trump began his second term, the US has taken a series of punitive measures against South Africa, whose government has been met with ire not only from Trump, but also from his ally Elon Musk, who was born and raised in the country. Both Trump and Musk, the tech billionaire, have alleged that White farmers in the country are being discriminated against under land reform policies that South Africa's government says are necessary to remedy the legacy of apartheid. In January, South Africa enacted the Expropriation Act, seeking to undo the legacy of apartheid, which created huge disparities in land ownership among its majority Black and minority White population. Under apartheid, non-White South Africans were forcibly dispossessed from their lands for the benefit of Whites. Today, some three decades after racial segregation officially ended in the country, Black South Africans, who comprise over 80% of the population of 63 million, own around 4% of private land. The expropriation law empowers South Africa's government to take land and redistribute it – with no obligation to pay compensation in some instances – if the seizure is found to be 'just and equitable and in the public interest.' In February, Trump suspended aid to South Africa, alleging discrimination against White farmers. In that same executive order, the president said the US would 'promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation.' Earlier this month, Trump said in a post on social media that 'any Farmer (with family!) from South Africa, seeking to flee that country for reasons of safety, will be invited into the United States of America with a rapid pathway to Citizenship.'
CNN
12-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
White South Africans granted refugee status by Trump administration arrive in US
A flight carrying a group of 59 White South Africans granted refugee status in the United States by the Trump administration arrived at Washington Dulles airport in Virginia on Monday, a State Department official said. The Trump administration has moved to not only admit but to expedite the processing of Afrikaners as refugees for alleged discrimination. At the same time, it has suspended virtually all other refugee resettlement, including for people fleeing war and famine. The policy has drawn criticism from the South African government and from refugee advocates. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday that those going to the US 'do not fit the definition of a refugee.' Ramaphosa said he told Donald Trump that what the US president had been told about the persecution of the White minority group was not true. 'Those people who have fled are not being persecuted, they are not being hounded, they are not being treated badly,' he said at a panel at the Africa CEO Forum in Cote d'Ivoire moderated by CNN's Larry Madowo. 'They are leaving ostensibly because they don't want to embrace the changes that are taking place in our country in accordance with our constitution,' Ramaphosa said. Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International, called the policy 'a racialized immigration program masquerading as refugee resettlement, while real refugees remain stranded.' 'The main problem is denying protection to any other refugees from anywhere else in the world,' he said. 'There are millions of refugees around the world - people who have had to flee their home countries due to war or persecution – who have far more need for protection than anyone in this group – none of whom, to my knowledge, had been forced to flee from South Africa.' In remarks on Friday, senior White House official Stephen Miller said the arrivals this week are 'the beginning of what's going to be a much larger-scale relocation effort.' Since Trump began his second term, the US has taken a series of punitive measures against South Africa, whose government has been met with ire not only from Trump, but also from his ally Elon Musk, who was born and raised in the country. Both Trump and Musk, the tech billionaire, have alleged that White farmers in the country are being discriminated against under land reform policies that South Africa's government says are necessary to remedy the legacy of apartheid. In January, South Africa enacted the Expropriation Act, seeking to undo the legacy of apartheid, which created huge disparities in land ownership among its majority Black and minority White population. Under apartheid, non-White South Africans were forcibly dispossessed from their lands for the benefit of Whites. Today, some three decades after racial segregation officially ended in the country, Black South Africans, who comprise over 80% of the population of 63 million, own around 4% of private land. The expropriation law empowers South Africa's government to take land and redistribute it – with no obligation to pay compensation in some instances – if the seizure is found to be 'just and equitable and in the public interest.' In February, Trump suspended aid to South Africa, alleging discrimination against White farmers. In that same executive order, the president said the US would 'promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation.' Earlier this month, Trump said in a post on social media that 'any Farmer (with family!) from South Africa, seeking to flee that country for reasons of safety, will be invited into the United States of America with a rapid pathway to Citizenship.'
New York Times
12-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
White South Africans Granted Refugee Status by Trump Arrive in the U.S.
The first plane carrying white South Africans who received refugee status from the Trump administration landed at Washington Dulles International Airport on Monday morning, according to a flight tracking website. The arrival marks a drastic reversal in the United States' refugee policies, which have long focused on helping people fleeing war, famine and genocide. President Trump essentially halted all refugee admissions programs on his first day in office before creating a pathway for Afrikaners, a white ethnic minority that ruled during apartheid in South Africa, to resettle in the United States. The group that arrived Monday on a U.S.-funded Omni Air International charter flight say they have been discriminated against, denied job opportunities and have been subject to violence because of their race. 49 Afrikaners boarded the flight on Sunday, according to a spokesman for South Africa's airport authority, after more than 8,000 people expressed interest in the program. There are scant details available about the individuals who arrived in the United States. The South Africans who reached the United States on Monday had received expedited processing by the Trump administration — waiting no more than three months. Refugee resettlement before the first Trump administration took an average of 18 to 24 months, according to the American Immigration Council, an advocacy group for immigrants. Mr. Trump said on Monday that the United States was extending citizenship to these individuals, who he said were victims of a genocide. 'Farmers are being killed,' he told reporters. 'They happen to be white. Whether they are white or Black makes no difference to me. White farmers are being brutally killed and the land is being confiscated in South Africa.' Police data does not support the narrative of mass murder. From April 2020 to March 2024, 225 people were killed on farms in South Africa, according to the police. But most of the victims — 101 — were current or former workers living on farms, who are mostly Black. Fifty-three of the victims were farmers, who are usually white. The refugee program has exacerbated tensions between the United States and South Africa, whose government has rejected the Trump administration's claim that the Afrikaners are eligible for refugee status. '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,' Chrispin Phiri, a spokesman for South Africa's foreign ministry, said in a statement. Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff who has overseen the administration's immigration policy, said the situation in South Africa 'fits the textbook definition of why the refugee program was created.' 'This is persecution based on a protected characteristic — in this case, race,' he said, 'This is race-based persecution.' In February, Mr. Trump signed an executive over suspending all foreign assistance to South Africa and announced his administration would work to resettle 'Afrikaner refugees' because of the South African government's actions that 'racially disfavored landowners.' Mr. Trump was referring to a law, known as the Expropriation Act, which allows the government in some cases to acquire privately held land in the public interest without paying compensation. But that step can be done only after a justification process subject to judicial review. Ronald Lamola, South Africa's foreign minister, has likened the law to eminent domain in the United States. Analysts say the law has many checks and balances to prevent abuse. The most likely application, analysts say, will be to take land that is not in use. The Trump administration has also criticized the South African government for its condemnation of Israel over the war in Gaza and its close relationship with Iran. South Africa has brought a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
First white South Africans fly to US under Trump refugee plan
By Tim Cocks JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The first 49 white South Africans deemed victims of racial discrimination and granted refugee status under an offer by U.S. President Donald Trump were flying to the U.S. on Monday in a move deepening frictions between the two nations. The U.S. government has blocked mostly non-white refugee admissions from the rest of the world but is prioritising Afrikaners, the descendants of mostly Dutch settlers. Giving refugee status to white South Africans has been met with a mixture of alarm and ridicule by South African authorities, who say the Trump administration has waded into a domestic political issue it does not understand. It comes at a time of heightened racial tensions in South Africa over land and jobs that has divided the ruling coalition. The charter plane carrying the 49 from Johannesburg was expected to arrive at Washington Dulles airport on Monday morning. "The government unequivocally states that these are not refugees," South African foreign ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri told local broadcaster Newzroom Afrika. "But we are not going to stand in their way." WEALTH INEQUITIES Since Nelson Mandela brought democracy into South Africa in the 1994, the once-ruling white minority has retained most of the wealth amassed under colonialism and apartheid. 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. Less than 10% of white South Africans are out of work, compared with more than a third of their Black counterparts. Yet the claim that minority white South Africans face discrimination from the Black majority has become an established trope in right-wing online chatrooms, and has been echoed by Trump's white South African-born ally Elon Musk. Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has cut all U.S. financial assistance to South Africa last month, citing disapproval of its land policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington's ally, Israel.
Reuters
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
First white South Africans fly to US under Trump refugee plan
JOHANNESBURG, May 12 (Reuters) - The first 49 white South Africans deemed victims of racial discrimination and granted refugee status under an offer by U.S. President Donald Trump were flying to the U.S. on Monday in a move deepening frictions between the two nations. The U.S. government has blocked mostly non-white refugee admissions from the rest of the world but is prioritising Afrikaners, the descendants of mostly Dutch settlers. Giving refugee status to white South Africans has been met with a mixture of alarm and ridicule by South African authorities, who say the Trump administration has waded into a domestic political issue it does not understand. It comes at a time of heightened racial tensions in South Africa over land and jobs that has divided the ruling coalition. The charter plane carrying the 49 from Johannesburg was expected to arrive at Washington Dulles airport on Monday morning. "The government unequivocally states that these are not refugees," South African foreign ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri told local broadcaster Newzroom Afrika. "But we are not going to stand in their way." Since Nelson Mandela brought democracy into South Africa in the 1994, the once-ruling white minority has retained most of the wealth amassed under colonialism and apartheid. 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. Less than 10% of white South Africans are out of work, compared with more than a third of their Black counterparts. Yet the claim that minority white South Africans face discrimination from the Black majority has become an established trope in right-wing online chatrooms, and has been echoed, opens new tab by Trump's white South African-born ally Elon Musk. Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has cut all U.S. financial assistance to South Africa last month, citing disapproval of its land policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington's ally, Israel.
