Trump administration welcomes 59 Afrikaners to US 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 regime 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 Multiple in the group from South Africa including toddlers and other small children even one walking barefoot in pajamas held small American flags as two administrators 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 sparse years Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau announced President Donald Trump informed reporters earlier Monday that he s admitting them as refugees because of the genocide that s taking place He commented 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 cabinet experts and even the Afrikaner group AfriForum which says farm attacks are not being taken seriously by the regime South Africa s governing body says the U S accusations that the white minority Afrikaners are being persecuted are utterly false the upshot of misinformation and an inaccurate view of the country It cited the fact that Afrikaners are among the richest and the majority triumphant people in the country The view from South Africa Speaking at a business conference in Ivory Coast South African President Cyril Ramaphosa noted Monday that he spoke with Trump in recent weeks and stated 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 sought me What s going on down there and I recounted him that what you are being notified by those people who are opposed to transformation back in South Africa is not true Ramaphosa declared Afrikaners make up South Africa s largest white group and were the leaders of the apartheid administration which brutally enforced racial segregation for nearly years before ending it in While South Africa has been largely fruitful in reconciling its a great number of races tensions between selected 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 regime 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 particular 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 leadership condemns those killings but says they are part of the country s problems with crime There is no content 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 disclosed 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 declared a multitude of of those who arrived Monday experienced threatening invasions of their homes their farms and a real lack of interest or success of the governing body in doing anything about this situation They all had met stringent vetting standards including the ability to assimilate into American way of life Landau noted Critics of the refugee plan suggest that refugees aren t properly vetted though supporters say they go through specific of the strictest vetting of anyone seeking to come to America Trump indefinitely suspended the refugee resettlement undertaking which historically had widespread bipartisan promotion on his first day in office A month later he stated a plan to resettle white South African farmers and their families as refugees Supporters of the refugee plan 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 commented in a message 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 activity 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 setup 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 system however is refusing a directive from the federal cabinet to help resettle the white South Africans citing the church s longstanding commitment to racial justice and reconciliation