JOHANNESBURG: A second group of white South Africans has arrived in the USA beneath a refugee program introduced by the Trump administration, officers and advocacy teams mentioned Monday. 9 folks, together with households and kids, arrived late final week, mentioned Jaco Kleynhans, head of worldwide liaison on the Solidarity Motion, a bunch representing members of South Africa’s white Afrikaner minority. The group travelled on a business flight, he mentioned. A spokesperson for the US Embassy mentioned in an e-mail to The Related Press that “refugees proceed to reach in the USA from South Africa on business flights as a part of the Afrikaner resettlement program’s ongoing operations.” An preliminary group of 59 white South Africans arrived at Dulles Worldwide Airport in Virginia on a chartered flight final month beneath the brand new program introduced by US President Donald Trump in February. The Trump administration fast-tracked the resettlement of white South Africans after indefinitely suspending different US refugee packages. The Trump administration mentioned it’s providing refugee standing to white South Africans it alleges are being persecuted by their Black-led authorities and are victims of racially motivated violence. The South African authorities has denied the allegations and mentioned they’re a mischaracterization of the nation. Trump has falsely claimed that white South African farmers are focused in widespread assaults that quantity to genocide and are having their land taken away. Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with these baseless claims throughout a gathering on the White Home final month. Ramaphosa has mentioned the comparatively small variety of assaults on white farmers are a part of South Africa’s bigger issues with violent crime, which impacts all races. The Trump administration initially mentioned the refugee program was geared toward members of South Africa’s Afrikaner minority, who’re descendants of primarily Dutch and French colonial settlers. In new steering printed by the US Embassy final month, candidates have to be “a member of a racial minority” in South Africa and “should be capable to articulate a previous expertise of persecution or concern of future persecution.” There are roughly 2.7 million Afrikaners amongst South Africa’s inhabitants of 62 million, which is greater than 80 per cent Black. They aren’t the one white minority. There are round 4.5 million whites in whole, together with these with British or different heritage. The US Embassy spokesperson mentioned the US “continues to overview inquiries from people who’ve expressed curiosity to the embassy in resettling to the USA and is reaching out to eligible people for refugee interviews and processing.” Whereas US officers haven’t mentioned what number of South Africans have utilized to be relocated, Kleynhans mentioned there have been round 8,000 purposes. One other group serving to white South Africans apply for refugee standing has mentioned tens of hundreds have utilized.
