NPR News -Africa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

Evan Vucci/AP

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Evan Vucci/AP

JOHANNESBURG — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa walked into an ambush when he met President Trump in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
Africa Trump to meet South African president amid deteriorating relationsAfter a cordial beginning, where Ramaphosa was at pains to stress his desire to improve relations with the United States, things turned hostile. Trump repeated false claims of a “white genocide” in South Africa and then ordered the lights dimmed to play videos he said supported his allegation.
Ramaphosa attempted to correct the U.S. leader, but mostly got talked over. He explained the videos of opposition politician Julius Malema singing an apartheid-era struggle song called “Kill the Boer” — which means farmer or Afrikaner — did not represent government policy.

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May 18, 202512:02 AM ET
Hundreds of Rwandan refugees who were living in eastern Congo since the 1994 Rwanda genocide are repatriated by bus from Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Saturday, May 17, 2025.

Moses Sawasawa/AP

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Moses Sawasawa/AP

GOMA, Congo — Hundreds of Rwandan refugees who were living in eastern Congo since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda were repatriated on Saturday, the U.N. refugee agency said, after Rwandan-backed rebels seized key parts of the region.
Most of the refugees were women and children, and 360 of them crossed the border in buses provided by Rwandan authorities and were escorted by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, and aid group Save the Children, local authorities said. The goal is to repatriate 2,000 people, UNHCR said.
“We are happy to welcome our compatriots. They are a valuable workforce for the country’s development,” said Prosper Mulindwa, the Rwandan mayor of Rubavu, during a brief ceremony at t..

May 16, 20259:24 AM ET
Children selling a drink made from hibiscus flowers in Jebel Aulia, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Khartoum where the last battles over control of the capital city took place. The Sudanese government took the city back from rebel forces in March.

Faiz Abubakr for NPR

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Faiz Abubakr for NPR

KHARTOUM, Sudan — Children are playing again on the streets of Khartoum.
They ride bikes through eerie streets, with the freedom of deserted roads and highways.
In the backdrop, people sweep shattered glass from battered storefronts, or clear rubble from their homes.
A handful of stands serve tea and coffee on the roadside and the owner of a popular bakery has returned after two years and is selling bread again.
These are some of the early signs of revival emerging across Khartoum, as it slowly comes back to life.
Kids show off their bike prowess on a deserted street in Khartoum, recaptured by the Sudanese army in March.

Faiz Abu..

May 15, 20256:50 AM ET
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the opening session of the G20 foreign ministers meeting in Johannesburg in February.

Jerome Delay/AP

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Jerome Delay/AP

JOHANNESBURG — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will travel to Washington next week to meet President Trump at the White House on Wednesday “to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of interest,” Ramaphosa’s office has announced.
Africa White South African Afrikaner refugees arrive in U.S. on a government-chartered planeThe visit comes as relations between the U.S. and South Africa are at their lowest since the end of apartheid. Trump has repeatedly claimed that “terrible things are happening” in South Africa, and invited Afrikaners to apply for refugee status in the U.S. On Monday, the first group of some 59 white South Africans who had been approved arrived in Washington on a U.S. government-chartered plane.
The statement from Ramaphosa’..

White Afrikaaner South Africans demonstrate in support of U.S. President Donald Trump in front of the U.S. embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, Feb. 15.

Jerome Delay/AP

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Jerome Delay/AP

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa —A group of 59 white Afrikaners who have been given refugee status by the Trump administration arrived at Dulles airport outside Washington, D.C., on Monday on a charter flight paid for by the U.S. government.
Africa First Afrikaners granted refugee status due to arrive in U.S. The Afrikaners, descendants of mainly Dutch colonists, left Johannesburg on Sunday night. They were seen at the airport in Johannesburg with carts full of suitcases, but declined to speak to the media. They are being greeted by U.S. officials and are expected to give a news conference shortly.
One document seen by NPR said there would be food and “items for the children” upon arrival. It said the refugee services office of the Catholic diocese of Virginia would ..

May 9, 20256:23 PM ET
Enlarge this imagePeople walk down a road in Khartoum, 2024.

Faiz Abubakr/Faiz Abubakr

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Faiz Abubakr/Faiz Abubakr

People walk down a road in Khartoum, 2024.

Faiz Abubakr/Faiz Abubakr

It’s been more than two years since civil war exploded in Sudan.
By some estimates the conflict has killed as many as 150-thousand people, and displaced millions more.
In April, NPR International Correspondent Emmanuel Akinwotu gained rare access to the capital city, Khartoum. He reports on how the once vibrant city of 6 million has been ravaged by war.
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May 8, 202510:22 PM ET
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.

Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images

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Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images

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 ..

May 8, 20254:08 AM ET

NPR speaks with Katya Schwenk, a reporter at investigative news outlet “The Lever,” about a memo outlining the Trump administration’s use of a refugee fund to resettle white South Africans in the U.S.

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An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer prepares a Salvadoran immigrant without legal status for a deportation flight.

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John Moore/Getty Images

The Trump administration is planning to deport migrants without legal status to Libya, a country long plagued by armed conflict, a U.S. official has confirmed to NPR.
However, Libyan officials — for both the factions controlling separate areas of the divided country — denied they were in talks with the U.S., according to Reuters.
The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the plans, but the news comes days after reports that Trump was eyeing the North African nation — as well as other African countries including Benin, Angola and Eswatini — as places to send deportees.

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Meantime, a federal judge ruled Wednesday that deporting noncitizens to Libya without due process would violate his existing court order. U.S. District Jud..

May 7, 20254:11 AM ET

Sudan’s temporary capital city, Port Sudan, previously a safe haven during the country’s two-year civil war, has come under attack for the first time by a series of drone strikes for consecutive days.

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