By Matthew Lee and Rebecca Santana
Washington (AP)-The Trump Administration will host more than two dozen white South Africans in the United States as a refugee next week, an unusual decision because it suspended most of the refugee resettlement operations, officials and documents said on Friday.
The first Afrikaner refugees arrived at Dulles International Airport on Monday outside Washington, according to a document obtained by the Associated Press. It is expected that they are welcomed by a government delegation, notably the Secretary of State and civil servants of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, who organized their resettlement under his refugee resettlement office.
The flight will be the first of many in a “much larger relocation effort,” said Deputy Journalists of the White House, Stephen Miller, to journalists.
“What is happening in South Africa corresponds to the definition of the manual of the reason why the refugee program has been created,” he said. “This is the persecution based on a protected characteristic – in this case, the breed. This is the persecution based on the breed. ”
The State Department’s refugee programs have been suspended since President Donald Trump ordered an exam in February. While interrupting the arrivals of Afghanistan, Iraq, most of sub-Saharan Africa and throughout Latin America, Trump also published an executive decree prioritizing the treatment of white South Africans who claim racial discrimination in their country of origin.
“The United States Embassy in Pretoria has conducted interviews and treaty in accordance with the decree of President Trump to deal with the blatant actions of the Republic of South Africa,” said the State Department. “The State Department favors consideration for the resettlement of American refugees from Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination.”
The department said nothing about the imminent arrival of what officials said they were supposed to be more than two dozen white South Africans from approximately four families who had asked for resettlement in the United States, their arrival was initially scheduled for last week but which was delayed for reasons which were not immediately clear.
The HHS refugee office was ready to provide them with support, especially with accommodation, furniture and other household items, and expenses such as grocery store, clothing, diapers and more, depending on the document. “This effort is a declared priority of the administration.”
HHS did not respond to messages asking for comments.
The Trump administration has adopted a frank opponent position with regard to South Africa, which is the homeland of the counselor close to Trump Elon Musk and also holds the rotating presidency of the group of 20 developed and developing countries.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio notably boycotted a meeting of G20 foreign ministers in Johannesburg in March because his main program was focused on diversity, inclusion and climate change. Rubio also expelled the South African Ambassador to the United States in March for comments that the Trump administration interpreted as the president of promoting white supremacy.
Shortly after, the State Department ended any commitment with the G20 during the Presidency of South Africa. The United States is expected to organize G20 meetings in 2026.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement on Friday that he spoke to Trump at the end of last month on issues such as United States criticism in South Africa and the Trump administration allegations that Afrikaners are persecuted. Ramaphosa told Trump that the information that the American president had received, “was completely false,” said the statement.
“Consequently, our position is that there are no South African citizens who can be classified as refugees in a part of the world, including the United States,” said the Ramaphosa office statement.
The South African Deputy Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alvin Botes, spoke with American Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Friday of refugees, said the South African Ministry of Africans. Landau should lead the delegation to welcome refugees on Monday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that South Africa had “expressed its concerns about the information transmitted that the United States had started to transform alleged refugees from South Africa and will begin to reinstall these citizens in the United States”.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that allegations of discrimination against Afrikaners in South Africa “are not founded”.
“It is very regrettable that it seems that the resettlement of South Africans in the United States under the guise of being” refugees “is entirely motivated by a political policy and designed to question the constitutional democracy of South Africa; A country that has in fact suffered a real persecution under the apartheid regime and declared tirelessly to prevent a declaration.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that he disputes the American assessments of “alleged refugee status”, but would not block anyone who wanted to leave the country because he respected his freedom of movement and choice.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was looking for information in the United States on the “status” of the people leaving South Africa and if they went to the United States as refugees, asylum seekers or “ordinary citizens”. He said he wanted to ensure that the persons who left had been properly verified and had no suspended criminal cases against them in South Africa.
He said that South Africa was “dedicated to constructive dialogue” with the United States
South African African Ministry spokesman Chrispin Phiri told the Associated Press: “Yes, we are told that there are people who leave. We say, “What is their status? Do they leave as asylum seekers, do they leave as refugees, or do they leave as South African citizens, and they go in a joy of hiking? This is a question that we asked them. »»
The writers of the Associated Press Michelle Gamede in Johannesburg, Gerald Imray in Cape, South Africa, and Seung Min Kim and Amanda Seitz in Washington contributed to this report.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
