Today, the United States government took an historic step. It provided a pathway for 54 White Afrikaner South Africans to receive refugee status through an executive order signed by then-President Donald Trump. This judgement intends to give shelter to descendants of Dutch and French colonizers. They have been persecuted and labeled as homosexuals and witches in their home country.
The White Afrikaners will be welcomed at Dulles International Airport by high-level officials from the Departments of State and Homeland Security upon their arrival. In view of their required resettlement, a press conference was held to discuss their resettlement and the conditions that brought about their status as refugees. This move follows increasing concern about racial conflict brewing in South Africa. White people there average about 20 times the wealth that black people do.
Historically, South Africa’s political landscape was dominated by white Afrikaner leaders during the apartheid era, which enforced a system of racial segregation and oppression against the nation’s black majority. Even after the fall of apartheid, systemic inequality continues to prevail. Meanwhile, Black South Africans continue to face an atrocious unemployment rate of 46.1%, compared to a mere 9.2% for their white counterparts. Yet, most black South Africans still live in poverty.
This conspiracy theory has persisted in the U.S. for years, and somehow found its way into Trump’s now-infamous executive order. He has claimed in the past that there is “racist hate speech and state-sponsored discrimination inciting increased violence against racially marginalized property owners.” Politicians and other public figures such as Elon Musk and Marco Rubio have further spread this narrative. It is in the US’s own self-interest that they have raised concerns about the treatment of white South Africans.
These people were provided with refugee status. This decision stands in stark opposition to Trump’s first day in office suspension of the U.S. refugee settlement program. As the suspension of the program left over 100,000 already approved refugees in limbo, it painted a dismal and complicated picture for would-be asylum seekers to the U.S. Since then, U.S. refugee officials have been directed to actively fast track only white Afrikaner farmers through the screening process. At the same time, they’re adjudicating more than 8,000 asylum claims.
Demonstrators in Pretoria, South Africa, outside the U.S. embassy, in solidarity with the global refugee cause. They shouted slogans such as “Refuge pleaze” and “Trump please!! The outcry itself reveals how divided South Africans remain over race relations since the fall of apartheid. Finally, a majority of white South Africans support repealing policies which enable black economic empowerment.
Not everyone supports this initiative. The South African foreign ministry responded with a public statement condemning the political motivations behind the U.S. resettlement process.
“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; a country which has in fact suffered true persecution under apartheid rule and has worked tirelessly to prevent such levels of discrimination from ever occurring again.” – South Africa’s foreign ministry
The complexity of this situation underscores the ongoing challenges faced by nations grappling with their colonial pasts and present-day inequalities. The U.S. should continue to be a safe haven for those fleeing persecution. More importantly, this decision raises profound questions about racial realities in post-apartheid South Africa and the United States.