First White South Africans Fly to US Under Trump Refugee Plan
The first 49 white South Africans deemed victims of racial discrimination and granted refugee status under an offer by US President Donald Trump were flying to the US on Monday in a move deepening friction between the two nations.
The US government has blocked mostly non-white refugee admissions from the rest of the world but is prioritizing Afrikaners, the descendants of mostly Dutch settlers.
Giving refugee status to white South Africans has been met with a mixture of alarm and ridicule by South African authorities, who say the Trump administration has waded into a domestic political issue it does not understand.
It comes at a time of heightened racial tensions in South Africa over land and jobs that has divided the ruling coalition.
The charter plane carrying the 49 from Johannesburg was expected to arrive at Washington Dulles airport on Monday morning.
“The government unequivocally states that these are not refugees,” South African foreign ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri told local broadcaster Newzroom Afrika.
