South Africa Condemns US Refugee Policy Prioritising White Afrikaners as “Racist and Misguided”
The South African government has strongly criticised a new United States refugee policy that prioritises applications from white Afrikaners, describing the move as “misguided” and rooted in false claims of a “white genocide.”
In a statement issued on Friday, the government dismissed the US justification for the policy, insisting there is no credible evidence that white South Africans are being systematically persecuted. It also referenced an open letter by prominent Afrikaners rejecting the notion of targeted violence and denouncing the US relocation scheme as “racist and politically driven.”
“The limited number of white South Africans seeking to relocate to the US clearly shows they are not victims of persecution,” the government said.
The criticism follows President Donald Trump’s administration’s announcement of a record-low refugee cap of just 7,500 people for the year, with a special category reserved for white Afrikaner applicants.
Officials in Pretoria accused Washington of “weaponising misinformation” for political purposes, warning that the policy promotes racial division.
Recent crime statistics released by South African authorities show no indication that white citizens are more frequently targeted than any other racial group. The government emphasised that violent crime affects all South Africans, condemning any attempt to use crime data to justify racially biased asylum policies as “deeply irresponsible.”
The dispute is the latest flashpoint in strained relations between the two countries, stemming from Trump’s opposition to South Africa’s land reform programme, which allows expropriation of land without compensation in certain cases.
Earlier this year, Trump announced an offer of refugee status to white Afrikaners — descendants of Dutch and French settlers — after South Africa implemented the land reform law.
Tensions further escalated when South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool was expelled from Washington following remarks accusing Trump of “mobilising white supremacist sentiment” and “promoting racial victimhood.”
During a May 2025 meeting at the White House, Trump reportedly presented President Cyril Ramaphosa with a photo he claimed showed murdered white farmers. However, Reuters later confirmed the image was taken years earlier in the Democratic Republic of Congo and bore no relation to South Africa.
The White House declined to comment on the controversy, though subsequent reports revealed other misleading visuals were included in the presentation.
South Africa’s government said these distortions underscore that the “white persecution” narrative is a fabricated myth designed to stir racial division. It reaffirmed its commitment to protecting all citizens equally and urged the US government to “avoid importing falsehoods into its foreign policy decisions.”
