The first flight carrying white South Africans who were granted refugee status by the Trump administration was on its way to the U.S. on Sunday.
A group of 49 Afrikaners—an ethnic group descended from mainly Dutch settlers—left Johannesburg and was expected to arrive in Washington on Monday.
U.S. officials will meet the group once the charter flight, paid for by the U.S. government, lands, and there is expected to be a press conference, NPR reports.
Highlights
- A group of 49 Afrikaners granted refugee status by Trump left South Africa for the U.S. on a government-paid flight.
- The Trump administration cut aid to South Africa, citing race-based discrimination and property confiscation against white farmers.
- South Africa denies discrimination claims, calling the refugee status politically motivated.
Trump cut aid to South Africa and granted refugee status to Afrikaners
Image credits: The White House
In response, South Africa has accused the U.S. of questioning its constitutional democracy and challenges the U.S. assessment of “alleged refugee status.”
Tensions between the two countries have been rising since President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February announcing aid would be axed and Afrikaners would be resettled in the U.S.
“The United States shall promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation,” the order read.
The allegations relate to claims that the South African government has been seizing land from white farmers without compensation.
Image credits: Gallo Images via Getty Images
Additionally, the executive order claimed that government actions had fueled “disproportionate violence” against white landowners.
South Africa disputes all the claims and says allegations of discrimination are unfounded.
Crime statistics released by the South African Police Service in February show a 10% decrease in murders, but this was still an average of 75 people per day.
Between October and December 2024, there were 6,953 murders, compared to 7710 for the same period in 2023.
There were 12 recorded murders on farms – one victim was a farmer, four were employees and five were farm dwellers.
Image credits: Buda Mendes/Getty Images
While police figures do not specify race, the farm specific statistics were disputed by AfriForum, an Afrikaner civil rights organization.
The group claimed that a total of five farm owners had been murdered during this period, but the police force denied this.
“We appeal to the South African public to desist from assumptions that belong to the past, where farm murders are the same as murders of white farmers,” the police force said.
“Afriforum’s dispute smirks of their feeling to take an ‘Orwellian’ approach to this subject, wherein there must always be a picture of high numbers of murders of white farmers, as was the practice in the past."
Elon Musk has previously claimed there was a 'white genocide' in South Africa
Image credits: Gallo Images via Getty Images
“We want to take this opportunity to reiterate that our statistics show that one farmer, who happens to be white, was murdered in the third quarter in South Africa; anybody who disputes this is welcome to put facts on the table for the purposes of correct records.”
Trump ally Elon Musk, born in South Africa, has made several claims about a “white genocide” in the country.
“The legacy media never mentions white genocide in South Africa, because it doesn’t fit their narrative that whites can be victims,” he recently posted on X.
Earlier this year, a South African court dismissed the claims and said they were “not real” and “clearly imagined.”
In February, Trump posted on Truth Social: “South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY.
“It is a bad situation that the Radical Left Media doesn’t want to so much as mention. A massive Human Rights VIOLATION, at a minimum, is happening for all to see.
“The United States won’t stand for it, we will act. Also, I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!“
Afrikaners gathered at the US Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, in February to hand a memorandum to officials.
The group thanked Trump and Musk for their expression of interest in South African affairs.
On Friday, South Africa’s Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation released a statement saying the country, which had suffered persecution under apartheid rule, has worked tirelessly to prevent such levels of discrimination from ever occurring again.
“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,” the statement read.
“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.”
While South Africa challenges the U.S. assessments of refugee status, it will not block citizens who seek to depart the country from doing so, the statement added.
Image credits: The White House
Trump has also taken issue with South Africa bringing a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice regarding Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
His February executive order said: “South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice.”
The granting of refugee status for White South Africans comes amid Trump’s massive immigration crackdown.
Border czar Tom Homan had deported over 139,000 illegal immigrants during Trump’s first 100 days in office.
There have also been several court battles regarding the Trump administration deporting alleged gang members to an El Salvador prison under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
Several family members have since alleged their loved ones were wrongfully deported.