Preferential admission US government dodges questions about white South African refugees
Refugee policy according to Trump's priorities: White South Africans allowed to enter, others wait for years. Uncomfortable questions about double standards and racism remain unanswered.
15.05.2025, 23:51
dpa
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- The US has admitted dozens of white South Africans and granted them refugee status.
- Trump had defended the move with reference to an alleged "genocide" of white farmers in South Africa.
- The US government failed to provide any proof of the allegation or conduct a formal investigation.
- Comparable cases from other countries are being processed much more slowly or not at all.
The US State Department has evaded critical questions about the preferential admission of white refugees from South Africa. It is implementing a priority of President Donald Trump, explained department spokesman Tommy Pigott - but repeatedly evaded questions about the legal basis of the procedure.
The background to this is the entry of dozens of white South Africans into the USA, who were granted refugee status on the grounds of alleged racial persecution. The group was received by Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Troy Edgar when they arrived in Washington on Monday.
Trump had defended the move with reference to an alleged "genocide" of white farmers in South Africa. Experts disagree with this account, with which he is taking up a conspiracy theory of so-called "white genocide" that is widespread in right-wing extremist circles. There is indeed violent crime in South Africa, which also affects farmers - but across all population groups.
A new law in South Africa allows land expropriation in the public interest in order to compensate for inequalities from the apartheid era. At that time, land was mainly distributed to white South Africans. The law provides for compensation and has not yet been applied. In February, Washington froze aid to South Africa because of the law.
White South Africans - but no Afghans?
When asked whether the State Department had launched a formal investigation into a possible genocide in South Africa or what evidence could be presented, Pigott merely stated that Trump had repeatedly made his position on this clear. At the same time, he emphasized that the refugees had been accepted in accordance with legal standards - without explaining why comparable cases from other countries were being processed much more slowly or not at all.
The journalists present referred, among other things, to local Afghans who had been waiting for years to be resettled - although many of them had worked closely with the US military. Pigott also responded evasively to the question of whether skin color had played a role in the selection of refugees.
