Trumps controversial refugee program for ‘continued’ Witte Zuid Africans is ‘Political Theater’

In a dining tent in the South African government city Pretoria, 41-year-old Conrad Myburgh is relieved a good sip of beer. « The world finally sees that our government is discriminating against white Afrikaners, » he tells his table companion and friend Hannes Bruwer. Since last Monday the First 49 White Afrikaners Through the new American refugee program in Washington, the two plays with the idea of ​​also applying for refugee status in the US. « I love this country, but at the same time I feel thwarted by the government, » Myburgh complains.

The two Afrikaners are mainly dissatisfied with the quota set up by the South African government. In an attempt to eliminate the racial inequality inherited from the apartheid period, the government has legally laid down that in business a certain part of management – depending on which level 50 to 75 percent – should be black. Despite this scheme, 62 percent of the higher management are white and only 17 percent black. This while 82 percent of the population is black and 7 percent white.

« The quota has driven me to move to Angola, where I have been working as a manager in the mining sector for two months, » says Myburgh. He arrested his house in South Africa. According to him, many of his friends also leave for work abroad because of the quota.

‘Mission South Africa’

The 49 South African refugees, with American flags in their hands, were received at Dulles International Airport in Washington with many Eggs by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Christopher Landau. The US Department of Foreign Affairs had charter a plane especially for them and booked a hotel the night before their departure in Johannesburg.

The Afrikaners also end up in a spread bed in the US. Housing is arranged in twelve different states and they get assistance in finding a job. Entirely at the cost of the US, so report The New York Times After inspecting the American memo about this program, called ‘Mission South Africa’. According to the newspaper, 8,200 white Afrikaners have registered as a refugee via an email. About a hundred of these have been selected for the asylum regulation. The American embassy in South Africa was not available for comment or verification of these figures.

Just like Myburgh, US President Donald Trump accuses the South African government of « discrimination » of Afrikaners, who mainly descend from Dutch settlers. Whispered by his right hand, Elon Musk, who grew up in Pretoria, and Afrikaner lobby groups, he goes one step further. In a press conference last Monday at the White House said Trump That « a genocide is going on » in South Africa and that « farmers are killed, who happen to be white. »

According to Trump, the government would also confiscate the land of white farmers, referring to a new expropriation law. However, the South African government has never expropriated land without compensation. The white minority has almost three-quarters of the country that is in private property, the black majority of them has less than 8 percent.

According to Katia Beeden, which via the platform Americaners provides information about the resettlement scheme, a new plane with departures will fly to the US in the coming weeks. « The refugee program will now accelerate. The US has opened an official portal this week where people can register, » explains Beweden. She also signed up this week, because she feels ‘continued’, she says about the phone from Cape Town.

Little ‘Farm Gests’

The South African government dismisses Trumps accusations as a random nonsense. Foreign minister Ronald Lamola emphasized on Monday during a press moment that Afrikaners who use Trumps asylum scheme are not refugees. « There is no persecution of white Afrikaners in South Africa and the statistics in our country prove that. »

South Africa has extremely much violent crime, but if you look at who the victims are, then the Afrikaners are under-represented

For example, police figures for 2024 show that of the 26,000 murders, only 54 cases classify as ‘farm murders’ and among the victims there are also black agricultural workers. In addition, the white population is twenty times more prosperous than the black majority, found Researchers in the international academic magazine Review of Political Economy.

Loren Landau, professor of migration at the University of Oxford and the Wits-University in Johannesburg, agrees that the departed Afrikaners are not refugees according to international refugee legislation. « There is no well -founded fear of persecution as a specific group. Afrikaners are well represented on socially important positions, such as in the government and in government institutions. » He continues: « There is certainly no question of genocide. South Africa has extremely much violent crime, but if you look at who the victims are, then the Afrikaners are under-represented. »

The regulation for white Afrikaners is in stark contrast to the treatment of other refugees to the US. On the day that Trump moved into the White House for his second term, he suspended the admission of new refugees. And on the same day that the first group landed Afrikaners in Washington, he withdrew the temporary refugee status of 14,000 Afghans in the US.

« This regulation is political theater of Trump, » Landau analyzes. « It is not about offering protection, but about propagating a story of white victimization. Then Trump can be raised as their savior. » Moreover, it creates a dangerous precedent, according to the professor. « It is a shockage of refugees who are in truly life -threatening situations. In addition, it sends a signal that countries are free to ignore the UN Refugee Convention, which is the basis of international refugee law. »

Runner

In an attempt to temper the tense diplomatic relationship between the two countries, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will travel to the US for a meeting with Trump next week. There is much to discuss: in addition to the refugee crisis, Trump stopped the auxiliary funds to South Africa, he imposed an import tax of 30 percent on the country, and refuses to come to South Africa for the G20 summit in November.

Trump and Ramaphosa are also on a collision course due to the lawsuit that South Africa has filed at the International Court of Appeal (ICJ) in The Hague, in which it is Israel accused of genocide In Gaza. According to Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for the South African Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this makes Trumps accusation of a white genocide at the address of South Africa extra harm. « We walk the official paths via the highest right organ in the world to prove that a genocide takes place in Gaza, and Trump apparently can just suck a genocide from his thumb. »

During their conversation in the eatery, Conrad Myburgh and his friend Hannes Bruwer decided that they do not want to flee to the US. « We still enjoy life too much here. I drive in a nice pick-up truck, I have a boat with which I go on fish trips. I don’t give up to become a refugee, » concludes Bruwer.

But they see opportunities for their children, MyBrugh explains. « They have not built up anything yet, so they have little to lose. But first I want to know if you as a refugee can easily return to South Africa. »

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