South Africa’s government has criticized the United States’ decision to prioritize Afrikaners, white South Africans of Dutch descent, in its refugee admissions.
The criticism followed an announcement from the Trump administration on Thursday setting a new refugee cap of 7,500 people for the next fiscal year, down from 125,000, and specifying that Afrikaners would be given preference.
President Donald Trump has defended the policy shift by alleging that Afrikaners face “genocide” in South Africa due to racial redress policies and rising crime, a claim that has strained diplomatic ties between the two nations. In recent months, the United States has suspended aid to South Africa and imposed steep tariffs on its exports.
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On Friday, South Africa’s Department of International Relations expressed concern that the new refugee framework “still appears to rest on a premise that is factually inaccurate.”
“The claim of a ‘white genocide’ in South Africa is widely discredited and unsupported by reliable evidence,” department spokesman Chrispin Phiri said.
Phiri described the U.S. initiative as misguided, saying that “a program designed to facilitate the immigration and resettlement of Afrikaners as refugees was deeply flawed and disregarded the country’s constitutional processes.” He added, “The limited uptake of this offer by South Africans is a telling indicator of this reality.”
The U.S. notice, which represents one of the most dramatic shifts in American refugee policy in decades, singles out Afrikaners as the only group eligible for the 7,500 available spots, claiming the move is “justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.”
Trump’s decision has divided opinion in South Africa. While a handful of right-wing organizations have supported the initiative, the broader Afrikaner community and many civil leaders have rejected it outright.
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This week, a coalition of prominent Afrikaners, including politicians, activists, authors, and business figures, published an open letter condemning the idea that white South Africans should receive special asylum status.
“The idea that white South Africans deserve special asylum status because of their race undermines the very principles of the refugee program. Vulnerability — not race — should guide humanitarian policy,” the letter stated.
However, some Afrikaner groups remain vocal critics of the South African government’s handling of crime and redress efforts, though they distance themselves from the “white genocide” narrative.
The lobby group AfriForum said it does not describe farm murders as genocide but acknowledged that safety concerns among white farmers are legitimate.
“This does not mean AfriForum rejects or scoffs at Trump’s refugee status offer — there will be Afrikaners that apply and they should have the option, especially those who have been victims of horrific farm attacks or the South African government’s many racially discriminatory policies,” AfriForum spokesman Ernst van Zyl said.
While the U.S. has not disclosed how many white South Africans have sought asylum under the new policy, 59 were granted refugee status in May and were welcomed with massive media attention.
