Afrikaan South Africans supporting US President Donald Trump and South African and US tech billionaire Elon Musk gather in front of the US Embassy in Pretoria, on February 15, 2025 for a demonstration.
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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — The U.S. government has officially granted 54 Afrikaans South Africans, white descendants of mainly Dutch colonizers, refugee status and they are expected to land in the U.S. on Monday May 12, three sources with knowledge of the matter have told NPR. The sources did not want to be named because they work for the U.S. government and fear for their careers.
U.S. authorities on Thursday were trying to arrange a charter flight that would bring the South Africans to Dulles Airport near Washington, D.C., on Monday morning, but it's not clear if they will be allowed to land there. If that is not possible then they will be sent on commercial flights, according to the sources.
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NPR has also seen an email confirming the plan, and that the new arrivals will then be sent on to their final destinations in various states across the country. NPR sought comment from the State Department, who said to contact the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. The bureau has not responded. Questions emailed to the US Embassy in South Africa also went unanswered.
They are the first group of Afrikaners to be accepted by the U.S. after President Trump signed an executive order in February offering them possible resettlement.
"The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take appropriate steps, consistent with law, to prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination," the order, signed Feb. 7, said. It also cut aid to South Africa.
The sources said a press conference was planned for the group's arrival at Dulles airport, which would be attended by high level officials from the Departments of State and Homeland Security.
States that have agreed to take in the South Africans include: Alabama, California, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New York, Nevada, North Carolina and Iowa, one source said. Several of the people granted refugee status have family ties in the U.S., they said.
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The source noted it is unusual for refugees to be welcomed at the airport by U.S. dignitaries, and said the process of interviewing them in South Africa and granting them refugee status has been unusually quick.
The Afrikaners have been given P1 refugee status. According to the State Department website this is given to "individual cases referred by designated entities to the program by virtue of their circumstances and apparent need for resettlement."
The South Africans will now have a pathway to U.S. citizenship and be eligible for government benefits.
One document seen by NPR had detailed guidance for the South Africans arriving. Some of those granted refugee status had family members in the U.S. who would be asked to help them. Those who didn't would be "placed in a location that has a local organization to provide you with support," it said.
"Your case manager will pick you up from the airport and take you to housing that they have arranged for you. This housing may be temporary (like a hotel) while a local organization helps you identify more long-term housing," it said.
The South Africans are also informed: "You are expected to support yourself quickly in finding work. Adults are expected to accept entry level employment in fields like warehousing, manufacturing, and customer service. You can work toward higher level employment over time."
However, it said, "Any credentials from your home country may not automatically transfer to the United States." That last point will be of interest to many Afrikaner applicants, who have previously told NPR they hope to continue farming in the US.
One source told NPR the UN's International Organization for Migration had refused to be involved in the process. A spokesperson for the IOM did not immediately reply to request for comment.
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President Trump, his South African-born adviser Elon Musk, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have all been vocal about what they claim is the persecution Afrikaners — many of whom are farmers — face in South Africa.
Trump has accused the South African government of "doing some terrible things" and said “they are confiscating land, and actually they’re doing things that are perhaps far worse than that.”
The South African government passed a newland reform bill earlier this year, but so far no land has been confiscated and the government says a clause allowing for “expropriation without compensation” would be used only in rare instances.
South Africa's Department of International Relations has also hit back against Trump's allegations that Afrikaners are discriminated against.
"It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the U.S. for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people in the U.S. from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship," the department said in aFebruary statement.
On his first day back in office, Trump ordered the realignment of the “refugees admissions program," effectively suspending it, explaining: “The United States lacks the ability to absorb large numbers of migrants, and in particular, refugees, into its communities in a manner that does not compromise the availability of resources for Americans, that protects their safety and security.”
On Friday, asked to comment on the first Afrikaner group's imminent departure, the spokesman for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told NPR: "there's no need for misguided foreign interventions."
"Our position is that there are no South African citizens who can be classified as refugees to any part of the world."
In another statement, the Ministry of International Relations said South African officials had been engaging with their U.S. counterparts on Friday. The ministry said "It is most regrettable that it appears that the resettlement of South Africans to the United States under the guise of being 'refugees' is entirely politically motivated."
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"Whilst South Africa challenges the United States' assessments of alleged refugee status, it will not block citizens who seek to depart the country from doing so, as it also observes their right of freedom of movement and freedom of choice," it continued.
