South Africa Slams U.S. Over Move to Grant Refugee Status to White Afrikaners

iNewsAfrica | Pretoria | May 10, 2025

The South African government has condemned the United States’ decision to grant refugee status to 54 white South Africans, mainly Afrikaners, labeling the move as “politically charged, racially selective, and deeply misleading.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, acting under 2025 executive order issued by President Donald Trump, confirmed the asylum approvals this week. The decision claims that white Afrikaners face persecution in South Africa, citing land expropriation policies and so-called anti-white government programs.

Pretoria, however, swiftly pushed back, rejecting these claims as “baseless” and “insulting to South Africa’s democratic transformation.”

“The portrayal of white Afrikaners as a persecuted minority is not only factually incorrect but undermines South Africa’s efforts to address historical inequalities through constitutional means,” said Minister of International Relations Naledi Pandor in a press briefing.

South African officials argue that Afrikaners remain economically privileged, and that policies such as land reform and affirmative action are legal tools aimed at rectifying centuries of racial dispossession under apartheid.

“This move appears to ignore the genuine suffering of millions of refugees worldwide who face war, famine, and genocide,” Pandor added, accusing the U.S. of politicizing its refugee program while leaving vulnerable populations in global conflict zones behind.

While the South African government stopped short of preventing its citizens from emigrating, officials emphasized that the narrative pushed by U.S. authorities is harmful to bilateral relations and grossly distorts the realities on the ground.

Human rights groups have also voiced concerns, calling the U.S. decision a “selective and hypocritical” application of refugee protections, particularly as broader U.S. refugee admissions remain frozen for many from war-torn regions like Gaza, Sudan, and Myanmar.

The controversy comes amid already strained diplomatic ties between Washington and Pretoria over South Africa’s land reform policies, its neutral stance on international conflicts, and recent trade disagreements.

As the global community watches closely, this latest diplomatic rift raises fresh questions about how humanitarian policies are increasingly being shaped by political agendas.