Fifty white South Africans – all Afrikaners – are set to call the US state of Maine home after being given the green light for the refugee resettlement programme.
The group is part of the 7500 admissions that the US President Donald Trump has allocated for in the next fiscal year.
According to the president, the offer is open to victims of “racial persecution”. Trump has previously condemned the South African government’s promotion of a “white genocide”, a claim that has since been debunked.
50 WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS GRANTED REFUGEE STATUS
According to Amerikaners – the official media partner of the US Refugee Admissions Programme (USRAP) – 50 white South Africans have been granted refugee status.
The latest intake will depart for the US next week and will settle in the state of Maine.
The group have been confirmed to be white Afrikaners, a racial minority President Trump has given preferential treatment.
Maine Immigrant & Refugee Services have stated that there is no existing South African or Afrikaner community in the state.
Advocacy and policy manager Ruben Torres told News Center Maine: “We’re really worried about how we can make sure that they feel supported and integrated into the state when there’s not a large community for them to work with.
“So we’re working with partners to make sure that they have as much support as we can offer them.”
JUST AFRIKANERS?
In an official memorandum issued last month, the Trump administration revealed that it had cut the admission of refugees from 125 000, set by former President Joe Biden, to just 7500 for the 2026 fiscal year.
According to the statement, admissions will be “primarily allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa….and other victims of unjust racial discrimination in their respective homelands”.
However, the stipulations of the refugee resettlement programme are not exclusive to Afrikaners, or white people, for that matter.
Image via FreePik
As per USRAP criteria, applicants need to be South African and “a member of a racial minority in South Africa”.
Applicants are also required to prove that they are being “persecuted”, based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, membership of a social group, or a fear of “future harm”.
