
By Cameron Henderson. Media: Telegraph
Donald Trump has granted refugee status to white South Africans who claim they face racial discrimination in their home country.
A group of 49 white South Africans boarded a charter flight from Johannesburg on Sunday night and are set to arrive at Washington DC’s Dulles international airport on Monday, in a move that ratchets up tensions between the two nations.
Despite halting nearly all other refugee admissions shortly after returning to office in January, the president swiftly organised a scheme to allow in Afrikaners, the descendants of mostly Dutch settlers, who say they have been denied jobs and targeted with violence because of their race.
Giving refugee status to white South Africans has been met with a mixture of alarm and ridicule by South African officials, who accused the Trump administration of wading into a domestic political issue it does not understand.
“The government unequivocally states that these are not refugees,” South African foreign ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri told local broadcaster Newzroom Afrika. “But we are not going to stand in their way.”

Tensions between South Africa and the US have simmered for months after the president signed an executive order in February cutting off American aid amid claims the country was discriminating against white farmers, whom he offered to resettle in the US.
His comment echoed those of Elon Musk, his close adviser who was born and raised in South Africa, who has accused the country of having “racist ownership laws” which equate to “genocide” against white farmers.
These allegations were dismissed by South Africa’s Foreign Minister Ronald Lamoa, who said on Monday “there is no persecution of white Afrikaner South Africans”, adding that police reports debunk Mr Trump’s assertion.
While the refugee process often takes years, the Trump administration has fast-tracked the process for the Afrikaner group who are the first making their way to the US.
Families who lined up at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Sunday said the US embassy had instructed them not to speak to news media, according to The New York Times.
The plane is believed to be less than a quarter full, with FlightRadar tracking data suggesting the passengers boarded an Omni Air Boeing 767-224, which has capacity for 224 passengers.

Afrikaners in South Africa have claimed they are denied jobs, ignored by the government and targeted by criminals because of their race.
Since Nelson Mandela brought democracy into South Africa in 1994, the once-ruling white minority has retained most of the wealth amassed under colonialism and apartheid.
South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa this year enacted a law allowing the government to take land from private owners without providing compensation in certain cases.
Stephen Miller, Mr Trump’s deputy chief of staff and architect of his immigration policy, told reporters at the White House on Friday that what is happening in South Africa fits the “textbook definition of why the refugee program was created”.
Relocation to the US will give the South African refugees a pathway to US citizenship.
Upon arrival, those who do not have family in the US are expected to be placed in temporary accommodation and supported by local organisations, according to a document seen by NPR.
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