South Africa rejects US position that there's a humanitarian emergency for white people

The government in South Africa and Afrikaner advocacy groups on Wednesday rejected the position of the Trump administration that there's a humanitarian emergency affecting white people in South Africa.

The argument served as the rationale for raising the US refugee cap, but only for white Afrikaners. The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it will admit an additional 10,000 white South Africans into the US as refugees this year, increasing its annual cap, but blocking people from other countries from entering through the programme.

US President Donald Trump's announcement on the Federal Register that he was increasing the refugee cap because of “an unforeseen emergency refugee situation.”

The South African government’s international relations department said on Wednesday that accusations of systemic persecution of white Afrikaners are unfounded, pointing out that some beneficiaries of an immigration programme have chosen to return to South Africa.

South Africa says no emergency refugee situation in country

“This reality is further corroborated by the actions of individuals who, despite having availed themselves of this preferential immigration programme, have since resolved to return home,” spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said.

Afrikaner trade union, Solidariteit, argued that refugee status isn't a viable solution for Afrikaners, who should thrive in South Africa instead. Spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans said that the organisation hadn't discussed any “unforeseen emergency refugee situation” with the Trump administration, but respects the autonomy of US refugee policy toward Afrikaners.

The union “is in no way aware of anything that the Trump administration could be referring to,” Kleynhans said.

AfriForum, a lobbying organisation for the country’s white Afrikaner minority with more than 300,000 members, said it “does not have information” regarding the specific assertion that there's an emergency refugee situation.

'No need to leave'

The organisation’s CEO, Kallie Kriel, said the group’s focus is “fighting to create the circumstances in South Africa where there is no need for Afrikaners to leave.”

Trump suspended the US refugee programme on his first day in office and, since then, has turned it into a vehicle to allow Afrikaners — a group of white South Africans descended mainly from Dutch settlers — into the United States.

Advocates say the decision to focus a decades-old programme on one group has left people around the world fleeing war and strife stranded and with few options.