First group of white South Africans lands in US under Trump refugee plan
Some white South African farmers have picketed in support of President Trump
- Published
A US-funded flight carrying the first group of 49 white South Africans to be granted refugee status has landed in Washington, after leaving Johannesburg on Sunday.
Relations between South Africa and the US have been tense for months, after President Donald Trump said that members of the country's Afrikaner minority were victims of "racial discrimination".
This was dismissed by South Africa's Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola, who said on Monday "there is no persecution of white Afrikaner South Africans", adding that police reports debunk President Trump's assertion.
South Africa says that any allegations of persecution, external would not meet the threshold "required under domestic and international refugee law".
Skin colour of South African farmers "makes no difference" to Trump
The BBC has contacted the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, which confirmed it was not involved in this resettlement scheme, nor was it asked to take part in any of the screening.
Given the Trump administration's hardline position on refugees, it is notable the process did not involve the UNHCR - showing how much the white Afrikaners have been fast-tracked and in a way that has not been done for others.
Democrat Senator Jeanne Shaheen described the resettlement as "baffling" given the "indefinite suspension for thousands of legitimate asylum seekers" from other countries.
Senator Shaheen, who is also the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in her statement that "last year, the UN found no South Africans were eligible for refugee status".
Asked directly on Monday why Afrikaners' refugee applications had been expedited compared to other groups, Trump claimed a "genocide" was taking place and that "white farmers" specifically were being targeted.
"Farmers are being killed, they happen to be white, but whether they're white or black makes no difference to me," he said.
The US has criticised domestic South African policy, accusing the government of seizing land from white farmers without any compensation - something which the southern African nation says has not happened.
One of Trump's closest advisers, 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 claims of a genocide of white people have been widely discredited.
Figures from the South African police show that in 2024, 44 murders were recorded on farms and smaller plots of agricultural land, with eight of those killed being farmers.
South Africa does not report on crime statistics broken down by race but a majority of the country's farmers are white, while other people living on farms, such as workers, are mostly black.
Afrikaner author Max du Preez told the BBC's Newsday radio programme that claims of persecution of white South Africans were a "total absurdity" and "based on nothing".
He added that South Africans were "stunned" by the resettlement scheme and that it had more to do with "internal politics" in the US than South Africa.
Bilateral tensions between the US and South Africa have been strained for some time as President Trump tasked his administration with formulating plans to potentially resettle Afrikaners, a group with mostly Dutch ancestry, in the US.
In March, South Africa's ambassador to the US, Ebrahim Rasool, was expelled after accusing President Trump of using "white victimhood as a dog whistle", leading to the US accusing Mr Rasool of "race-baiting".
The US has also criticised South Africa for taking an "aggressive" position against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), where Pretoria has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government of genocide against people in Gaza - a claim which the Israelis strongly reject.
The current group of white South African refugees comprises 49 people, who landed in Washington DC later on Monday, before continuing to Texas.
White South Africans make up just 7.3% of the population, but own the vast majority of privately held farmland, according to a 2017 government report.
In January President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a controversial law which allows the government to seize privately owned land without compensation in certain circumstances, when it is deemed "equitable and in the public interest".
There had been anger in South Africa over the slow pace of land reform in the three decades since the end of the racist apartheid system.
President Trump's openness to accepting Afrikaner refugees comes as the US has engaged in a wider crackdown on migrants and asylum seekers from other countries.
Additional reporting by Khanyisile Ngcobo in Johannesburg, Nomia Iqbal & Cai Pigliucci in Washington DC
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