International News
Trump Defends Resettling White South Africans As Refugees In US
President Donald Trump on Monday defended the decision to resettle a group of white Afrikaners in the United States as refugees, saying they were fleeing a “terrible situation” in South Africa.
Trump’s remarks to reporters at the White House came just hours before an initial group of around 50 Afrikaners was set to arrive at an airport outside Washington.
The Republican president essentially halted refugee arrivals after taking office as part of his crackdown on immigration, but is making an exception for the white South Africans, who are mainly descendants of Dutch settlers.
Trump, whose tycoon ally Elon Musk was born in South Africa, said white farmers were being killed in the country and repeated an allegation of “genocide” that has been widely dismissed as absurd.
“It’s a terrible situation taking place,” he said. “So we’ve essentially extended citizenship to those people to escape from that violence and come here.
Those being resettled just “happen to be white, but whether they’re white or black makes no difference to me,” he added.
South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, dismissed claims Afrikaners were being persecuted and said he told Trump during a telephone conversation that what he is being told about their situation “is not true”.
“A refugee is someone who has to leave their country out of fear of political persecution, religious persecution, or economic persecution. And they don’t fit that bill,” Ramaphosa said.
“We’re the only country on the continent where the colonisers came to stay and we have never driven them out of our country,” he added at a forum in Abidjan.
South African Foreign Minister, Ronald Lamola, also scoffed at claims that white Afrikaners, mainly descendants of Dutch settlers, face persecution or are being targeted for murder.
Most victims of killings in South Africa are young black men in urban areas, according to official data.
“The crime that we have in South Africa affects everyone irrespective of race and gender,” Lamola said.
‘Beyond absurd’
The group of 49 people left Johannesburg airport on a chartered flight on Sunday and are due to land Monday afternoon at Dulles Airport in Virginia.
Under eligibility guidelines published by the US embassy, applicants must either be of Afrikaner ethnicity or belong to a racial minority in South Africa.
They must also “be able to articulate a past experience of persecution or fear of future persecution”.
Trump and Musk have accused the South African government of targeting Afrikaners with a controversial land seizure law enacted this year.
On Monday, Trump threatened not to attend an upcoming G20 summit in South Africa unless the “situation is taken care of”.
America’s biggest trading partner in Africa is also under fire from Washington for leading a case at the International Court of Justice accusing US ally, Israel, of “genocidal” acts in its Gaza offensive, a claim Israel denies.
Many have expressed bemusement that whites could be assigned victim status in South Africa.
Prominent Afrikaner author, Max du Preez, said the resettlement was “beyond absurd.”
“This is about Trump and MAGA, not about us. It’s about their hatred for DEI,” he told AFP, referring to diversity programmes that have become a Trump target.
“The people who have now fled have probably been motivated by financial considerations and/or an unwillingness to live in a post-apartheid society where whites no longer call the shots,” he said.
Whites, who make up 7.3 percent of the population, generally enjoy a higher standard of living than the Black majority.
They still own two-thirds of farmland and, on average, earn three times as much as black South Africans.
Mainly Afrikaner-led governments imposed the race-based apartheid system that denied the black majority political and economic rights until it was voted out in 1994.
Jeremy Doku insisted Manchester “will keep on fighting” in the Premier League title race despite their “painful” draw with Everton on Monday.
City drew 3-3 with the Toffees at Hill Dickinson Stadium, with Doku scoring a 97th-minute equaliser, having also scored the opening goal.
Doku’s equaliser (96:49) is City’s third-latest goal on record (since 2006-07) in a Premier League game after John Stones’ strike against Arsenal in September 2024 (97:14) and Gabriel Jesus’ goal against Everton in February 2019 (96:52).
Doku has had a hand in six goals across his last five games for City in all competitions (four goals, two assists), as many as in his previous 22 games combined (one goal, five assists).
The Belgian also created the most chances in the match against Everton (four), completed the most dribbles (5/7) and won the most duels (14/19).
City avoided defeat in a Premier League game despite trailing by 2+ goals as late as the 82nd minute for the first time since March 2012 against Sunderland (3-3).
They went on to win the league title in 2011-12, and Doku believes City can still beat Arsenal to the trophy this season.
“First half, we played well and created a lot of chances. We know if we don’t score those chances, it is going to get difficult at the end,” said Doku.
“Obviously, they are at their own stadium, they create chances, and they are dangerous, and they scored two goals, but I think we gave them the game.
“Good that we came back because one point is not bad in games like this.
“We will see. It feels painful now. There is still a lot of games to go. We lost two points, but we know that one point can be important at the end.
“We will keep on fighting. We owe it to ourselves and to our fans.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Nigerians interested in repatriation from South Africa will be responsible for the cost of their return trip to Nigeria.
The ministry’s spokesperson, Kimiebi Ebienfa, stated this during a press briefing on Monday in Abuja.
The briefing came shortly after a closed-door meeting between the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dunoma Ahmed, and the South African Acting High Commissioner, Lesoli Machele.
Mr Ebienfa said the process will be self-funded and not state-funded, as it is a voluntary decision that the Nigerian government will only facilitate and coordinate.
In the recent past, such reparations have been sponsored by Nigerian airline owners, particularly Allen Onyema, the CEO of Air Peace.
The Nigerian government, on Sunday, indicated its readiness to repatriate its citizens from South Africa due to xenophobic violence.
The effort primarily targets Nigerians who feel threatened by the xenophobic violence and tension in parts of South Africa, as the protests against black immigrants in the country continue. Two Nigerians were killed last month.
Since the announcement, about 130 Nigerians in South Africa have expressed a willingness to return home voluntarily.
Mr Ebienfa stated that the return of the Nigerians depends on their financial capacity, as they would be expected to fund their trip back home individually.
He said, “Those willing to leave are expected to approach the high commission and, given that their decision is voluntary, have the resources to fund their return to Nigeria.”
The government will not “provide an aircraft from Nigeria to convey them.”
He also noted that the speed of the repatriation process will be determined by the availability of funds.
“Yes, 130 as of this morning have registered, but actualisation would be required to have their flight ticket to move back to Nigeria.”
Mr Ebienfa also explained that Nigerians who have so far expressed interest are motivated either by concerns about threats to their lives or by fear of arrest by South African law enforcement agencies.
“There are two groups of Nigerians who want to come back. One group feels the country is not safe for them and wants to come. They have all their papers intact.
“Then there is also the second group that has travel document violations or resident permit violations. And instead of running away from law enforcement, they are appealing that the government facilitate their movement back to Nigeria,” he explained.
However, he noted that the process is still being worked out and that the government would step in to provide aircraft or other needed assistance if tensions rise and the situation becomes more volatile.
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