Newly arrived South African asylum seekers wait to hear welcome statements from U.S. government officials in a hangar at Dulles International Airport, Washington, on May 12, 2025, in Dulles, Virginia.
| Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES
On May 12, 49 White Afrikaners landed at the Washington Dulles International Airport — making them the first group resettled under a new Trump administration initiative. U.S. officials greeted them as beneficiaries of President Donald Trump’s new resettlement programme.
Mr. Trump endorsed the Afrikaner community’s claims of “white genocide” and endangered “Afrikaner” identity. Subsequently, he offered them asylum by fast-tracking their applications. He cited “unjust racial discrimination” to defend the urgency behind the move.
New land reform law
White Afrikaners have expressed growing resentment since the passage of a new land-reform law in January 2025. This law permits the government to seize privately owned land without compensation. This is only if it is “just and equitable and in the public interest” to do so.
The law aims to correct historically disproportionate land ownership. The Black African population comprises approximately 80% of South Africa’s 63 million-strong population. Yet, they only own 4% of the total land. More than 72% land is under White ownership, although they form only 7% of the total population.
The reform has triggered a backlash among segments of the Afrikaner community, who frame it as systemic racial persecution. Many claim threats to their life and land. However, no land has either been seized or formally taken over under the new act to date. Even so, existing crime patterns are used to portray a picture of targeted killings. These claims have not been scrutinised, but are relayed by the Trump government publicly.
U.S. Refugee Act
The United States Refugee Act, 1980 limits the applicability of refugee status. They must demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership of a particular social group. Neither U.S. law nor the UN Refugee Convention, 1951, makes concessions for economic insecurity or country-wide crime. On this count, the choice to accord refugee status does not comply with legal requirements. Further, international refugee law also disallows voluntary return to the refugee’s home country. In this case, many of the refugees intend to go back home for holidays and to attend to business.
There are also inconsistencies in the broader narrative.
There is a fundamental issue in granting refugee status to White “Afrikaners” as a group. It is not a homogeneous unit as it exists today. Historically, Afrikaners are the primary descendants of the Boers (Dutch colonisers). But today, Afrikaners comprise people from many different colonising countries. Bereft of their home country’s identity, they formed this coalition of new races and cultures.
Even the Afrikaans language is not the sole preserve of the Boer community. It is a language formed from Dutch, Khoisan, Malay, and many of the 12 official languages of the country. With time and inter-racial blending, this distinction has blurred further. At present, 60% or more of Afrikaans-speaking people are non-White.
Popular misconceptions
Amid this, misinformation is circulating that White Afrikaners are being killed for their racial identity. Is there an epidemic of crime in the country? Yes. But it is not White-directed. South Africa does have one of the highest per capita crime rates in the world (45 murders for every 1,00,000 people). Yet, only 0.3 % of these murders are farm-related or farm killings. In 2022, only 50 of the 23,000 murders were farm-related.
Although the South African government does not release racially-segregated crime data, the police report that victims of rural crimes are mostly Black. There is a factual basis to support the “White extermination” argument. National crime affects everybody. Statistically, White South Africans are less likely to be murdered than black South African.
The lack of data backing this step by the U.S. government is just the beginning. Seen in a larger context, the Afrikaner refugees don’t make a good case for asylum. They are not under any state-driven persecution, nor is there any fear of state excesses.
Shift in U.S. policies
The decision to grant asylum to white Afrikaners comes on the heels of the Trump administration halting other refugee admissions. Entry from war-torn countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Palestine has been suspended till further notice. People from these countries are better placed legally to seek asylum, and yet many are denied. In January, the Trump administration suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). This stops refugee processing in its tracks. Every 90 days, the Department of Homeland Security will submit reports to the U.S. President. If refugee applications are “aligned” with U.S. interests, they will move forward. As a consequence, applications are considered on a case-by-case basis.
In February, Mr. Trump signed an executive order accelerating the application of White Afrikaners. Their resettlement, within three months, sits uncomfortably in the face of the broader pause in intake. Meanwhile, 1,20,000 refugees have been waiting in line for months, some of them for years. They have gone through the mandatory medical and security screening and vetting. Thousands in refugee camps worldwide wait for UN Refugee Agency referrals. Refugees on the U.S’s southern border are generally barred from applying for asylum as well.
Moving forward
Elon Musk’s conspiracy theories gain traction given his South-African roots. Fears are stoked by Julius Malema, leader of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). He repeatedly sings “Kill the Boer”, an anti-apartheid song that increases the feeling of victimisation. The courts have not ruled this song as hate speech or incitement to violence. For now, Afrikaners in the U.S. are on their way to settling down in states such as New York, Idaho, Iowa, and North Carolina.
(Manaswini Vijayakumar is an intern at ‘The Hindu’)
Published – June 06, 2025 05:30 am IST
