Trump administration welcomes 59 white South Africans as refugees

DULLES Virginia AP The Trump administration on Monday welcomed a group of white South Africans as refugees saying they face discrimination and violence at home which the country s governing body strongly denies The decision to admit the Afrikaners also has raised questions from refugee advocates about why they were admitted when the Trump administration has suspended efforts to resettle people fleeing war and persecution who have gone through years of vetting A great number of in the group from South Africa including toddlers and other small children even one walking barefoot in pajamas held small American flags as two leaders welcomed them to the United States in an airport hangar outside Washington The South Africans were then leaving on other flights to various U S destinations A group of Afrikaners had been expected but the State Department declared Monday that had arrived I want you all to know that you are really welcome here and that we respect what you have had to deal with these last limited years Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau revealed President Donald Trump narrated reporters earlier Monday that he s admitting them as refugees because of the genocide that s taking place He revealed that in post-apartheid South Africa white farmers are being killed and he plans to address the issue with South African leadership next week That characterization has been strongly disputed by South Africa s authorities experts and even the Afrikaner group AfriForum which says farm attacks are not being taken seriously by the authorities South Africa s ruling body says the U S assertions that the white minority Afrikaners are being persecuted are wholly false the development of misinformation and an inaccurate view of the country It cited the fact that Afrikaners are among the richest and the bulk effective people in the country The view from South Africa Speaking at a business conference in Ivory Coast South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reported Monday that he spoke with Trump in recent months and narrated him his administration had been fed false information by groups who were casting white people as casualties because of efforts to right the historical wrongs of colonialism and South Africa s previous apartheid system of forced racial segregation which oppressed the Black majority I had a conversation with President Trump on the phone and he inquired me What s going on down there and I advised him that what you are being stated by those people who are opposed to transformation back in South Africa is not true Ramaphosa revealed Afrikaners make up South Africa s largest white group and were the leaders of the apartheid regime which brutally enforced racial segregation for nearly years before ending it in While South Africa has been largely triumphant in reconciling its a large number of races tensions between particular Black political parties and specific Afrikaner groups have remained The Trump administration has falsely claimed white South Africans are having their land taken away by the executive under a new expropriation law that promotes racially discriminatory property confiscation No land has been expropriated Trump has promoted the allegation that white farmers in South Africa are being killed on a large scale as far back as during his first term Conservative commentators have promoted the allegation about a genocide against white farmers and South African-born Trump ally Elon Musk has posted on social media that certain politicians in the country are actively promoting white genocide South Africa has extremely high levels of violent crime and white farmers have been killed in rural Afrikaner communities It has been a difficulty for decades The regime condemns those killings but says they are part of the country s problems with crime There is no information at all that backs that there is persecution of white South Africans or white Afrikaners in particular who are farmers South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola mentioned Monday White farmers get affected by crime just like any other South Africans who do get affected by crime So this is not factual it is without basis Trump administration says white South Africans have been targeted Landau stated multiple of those who arrived Monday experienced threatening invasions of their homes their farms and a real lack of interest or success of the leadership in doing anything about this situation They all had met stringent vetting standards including the ability to assimilate into American heritage Landau commented Critics of the refugee venture suggest that refugees aren t properly vetted though supporters say they go through chosen of the strictest vetting of anyone seeking to come to America Trump indefinitely suspended the refugee resettlement plan which historically had widespread bipartisan patronage on his first day in office A month later he released a plan to resettle white South African farmers and their families as refugees Supporters of the refugee campaign question how the administration can justify admitting this small group while keeping out others from conflict zones around the world Sen Jeanne Shaheen a New Hampshire Democrat called it an effort to rewrite history The Administration must clarify why these individuals qualify for refugee status and resettlement in the U S and why they have been prioritized over refugees like Afghans Burmese Rohingya and Sudanese who have fled their homes due to conflict and persecution she announced in a declaration Monday Who can come from South Africa under Trump s order According to the U S Embassy in South Africa applicants have to be South African citizens who are of Afrikaner ethnicity or a member of a racial minority and they have to be able to show a history of or a fear of persecution Afrikaners who are the descendants of mainly Dutch and French colonial settlers number around million among South Africa s population of million which is more than Black The U S refugee undertaking was created by Congress in and groups have sued to restart it after Trump s halt Traditionally to qualify as a refugee applicants must demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution due to race religion nationality membership in a particular social group or political opinion Refugees are distinct from asylum-seekers because refugees must be outside of the U S to qualify A infrastructure of resettlement agencies generally helps refugees settle in their new homes and they get days of federal assistance for things like rent The Episcopal Church s migration institution however is refusing a directive from the federal establishment to help resettle the white South Africans citing the church s longstanding commitment to racial justice and reconciliation Santana stated from Washington and Magome in Johannesburg Gerald Imray in Cape Town South Africa contributed to this record Source