The first group of 49 white South Africans who were granted refugee status in the United States has left for their new homeland. A charter flight from Johannesburg will arrive in Washington, D.C., on Monday morning local time.
The Afrikaners’ move to the United States was made possible by a relocation programme launched by President Donald Trump in February after he said that white South Africans were suffering from racial discrimination. In the United States, they are promised help with housing, furniture, money for clothes, food and other necessities.
The Donald Trump administration has sped up the process of processing Afrikaner applications for refugee status in the US, putting all other refugee programmes on hold, including those from other African countries, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq.
The US government has stated that, according to its information, the South African authorities are passing laws targeting the white minority and taking land away from white South Africans, and that Afrikaners, their homes and fields are being attacked by local residents. South Africa denies these allegations.
There are about 2.7 million Afrikaners living in South Africa, accounting for 60% of the country’s white population.
