The United States government has announced it will increase the number of white South Africans admitted as refugees this year from approximately 7,500 to 17,500, claiming that unforeseen developments in South Africa have created an emergency refugee situation.
Background of the Policy
Since beginning his second term last year, President Donald Trump has repeatedly made false claims that white Afrikaners face racial targeting and a so-called white genocide. The South African government has strongly rebutted these allegations. The Trump administration has also cut aid to South Africa, boycotted the G20 summit in Johannesburg last year, and disinvited South Africa from this year's G20, which will be held at one of Trump's resorts in Miami.
Refugee Admissions Timeline
The US began admitting white South Africans as refugees in May 2025, while suspending the refugee settlement programme for individuals fleeing war and persecution in countries such as Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan. In the fiscal year ending September 2024, the last full year before Trump took office, the US admitted more than 100,000 refugees. On Monday, the US State Department sent Congress an emergency notice stating it would accept up to 17,500 Afrikaners as refugees in the year ending September. In October, the government had planned to admit only 7,500 refugees in total, primarily white South Africans.
Cost and Justification
The cost of resettling 10,000 additional white South Africans is estimated at about $100 million (£75 million), according to the Associated Press, which reviewed the notice. The State Department cited rhetoric from the South African government that it claims undermines the US resettlement program and attacks Afrikaners. It also referenced a South African raid on a US refugee processing centre in December, which the US deemed unacceptable. South Africa defended the action, stating it deported seven Kenyans working illegally in the country.
The State Department notice stated: "This escalating hostility heightens the risks to Afrikaners in South Africa, who are already subject to far-reaching government-sponsored race-based discrimination."
Historical Context
Afrikaners, descended from Dutch and French settlers, ruled South Africa during apartheid, repressing the black majority while ensuring white minority safety and wealth. Since apartheid ended, affirmative action policies have helped create a black elite and middle class. However, more than 30 years after Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first black president, the country remains deeply unequal. Official data shows about 12% of white South Africans are unemployed, compared with 48% of black South Africans.
Despite this, black economic empowerment policies and high crime rates affecting everyone have fostered a perception among some white South Africans that they are now victims of racial discrimination. The conspiracy theory of white genocide has long been promoted by the racist far right, highlighting incidents of white farmer murders. In recent years, this has been amplified by South Africa-born billionaire Elon Musk and rightwing media personality Tucker Carlson.
