Trump administration welcomes 59 white South Africans as refugees

The first group of Afrikaners from South Africa to arrive for resettlement listen to remarks from US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and US Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Troy Edgar (both out of frame), after they arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, on May 12, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 13 May 2025
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Trump administration welcomes 59 white South Africans as refugees

  • South Africa’s government says the US allegations that the white minority Afrikaners are being persecuted are “completely false,” the result of misinformation and an inaccurate view of the country

DULLES, Virginia: The Trump administration on Monday welcomed a group of 59 white South Africans as refugees, saying they face discrimination and violence at home, which the country’s government strongly denies.

The decision to admit the Afrikaners also has raised questions from refugee advocates about why they were admitted when the Trump administration has suspended efforts to resettle people fleeing war and persecution who have gone through years of vetting.

Many in the group from South Africa — including toddlers and other small children, even one walking barefoot in pajamas — held small American flags as two officials welcomed them to the United States in an airport hangar outside Washington. The South Africans were then leaving on other flights to various US destinations.

A group of 49 Afrikaners had been expected, but the State Department said Monday that 59 had arrived.

“I want you all to know that you are really welcome here and that we respect what you have had to deal with these last few years,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said.

President Donald Trump told reporters earlier Monday that he’s admitting them as refugees because of the “genocide that’s taking place.” He said that in post-apartheid South Africa, white farmers are “being killed” and he plans to address the issue with South African leadership next week.

That characterization has been strongly disputed by South Africa’s government, experts and even the Afrikaner group AfriForum, which says farm attacks are not being taken seriously by the government.

South Africa’s government says the US allegations that the white minority Afrikaners are being persecuted are “completely false,” the result of misinformation and an inaccurate view of the country. It cited the fact that Afrikaners are among the richest and most successful people in the country.

The view from South Africa

Speaking at a business conference in Ivory Coast, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday that he spoke with Trump recently and told him his administration had been fed false information by groups who were casting white people as victims because of efforts to right the historical wrongs of colonialism and South Africa’s previous apartheid system of forced racial segregation, which oppressed the Black majority.

“I had a conversation with President Trump on the phone and he asked me, ‘What’s going on down there?’ and I told him that what you are being told by those people who are opposed to transformation back in South Africa is not true,” Ramaphosa said.

Afrikaners make up South Africa’s largest white group and were the leaders of the apartheid government, which brutally enforced racial segregation for nearly 50 years before ending it in 1994. While South Africa has been largely successful in reconciling its many races, tensions between some Black political parties and some Afrikaner groups have remained.

The Trump administration has falsely claimed white South Africans are having their land taken away by the government under a new expropriation law that promotes “racially discriminatory property confiscation.” No land has been expropriated.

Trump has promoted the allegation that white farmers in South Africa are being killed on a large scale as far back as 2018 during his first term.

Conservative commentators have promoted the allegation about a genocide against white farmers, and South African-born Trump ally Elon Musk has posted on social media that some politicians in the country are “actively promoting white genocide.”

South Africa has extremely high levels of violent crime, and white farmers have been killed in rural Afrikaner communities. It has been a problem for decades. The government condemns those killings but says they are part of the country’s problems with crime.

“There is no data at all that backs that there is persecution of white South Africans or white Afrikaners in particular who are farmers,” South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said Monday. “White farmers get affected by crime just like any other South Africans who do get affected by crime. So this is not factual, it is without basis.”

Trump administration says white South Africans have been targeted

Landau said many of those who arrived Monday experienced “threatening invasions of their homes, their farms and a real lack of interest or success of the government in doing anything about this situation.”

They all had met stringent vetting standards, including the ability to assimilate into American culture, Landau said. Critics of the refugee program suggest that refugees aren’t properly vetted, though supporters say they go through some of the strictest vetting of anyone seeking to come to America.

Trump indefinitely suspended the refugee resettlement program — which historically had widespread bipartisan support — on his first day in office. A month later, he announced a plan to resettle white South African farmers and their families as refugees.

Supporters of the refugee program question how the administration can justify admitting this small group while keeping out others from conflict zones around the world.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, called it an effort to “rewrite history.”

“The Administration must clarify why these individuals qualify for refugee status and resettlement in the US and why they have been prioritized over refugees like Afghans, Burmese Rohingya and Sudanese who have fled their homes due to conflict and persecution,” she said in a statement Monday.

Who can come from South Africa under Trump’s order

According to the US Embassy in South Africa, applicants have to be South African citizens who are of Afrikaner ethnicity or a member of a racial minority, and they have to be able to show a history of or a fear of persecution.

Afrikaners, who are the descendants of mainly Dutch and French colonial settlers, number around 2.7 million among South Africa’s population of 62 million, which is more than 80 percent Black.

The US refugee program was created by Congress in 1980, and groups have sued to restart it after Trump’s halt.

Traditionally, to qualify as a refugee, applicants must demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Refugees are distinct from asylum-seekers because refugees must be outside of the US to qualify.

A network of resettlement agencies generally helps refugees settle in their new homes, and they get 90 days of federal assistance for things like rent. The Episcopal Church’s migration service, however, is refusing a directive from the federal government to help resettle the white South Africans, citing the church’s longstanding “commitment to racial justice and reconciliation.”


NATO strikes spending deal, but Spain exemption claim risks Trump ire

Updated 6 sec ago
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NATO strikes spending deal, but Spain exemption claim risks Trump ire

  • NATO diplomats now fear that Spain’s position could undermine its carefully choreographed show of unity with Trump in The Hague, which already risks being overshadowed by the US decision to strike Iran

BRUSSELS, Belgium: NATO on Sunday signed off on a pledge to ramp up defense spending before its upcoming summit, but Madrid insisted it would not need to hit the five percent of GDP demanded by US President Donald Trump.
The claim by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sets up a potential clash with Trump, who has pressured allies to commit to that headline figure when they meet for the two-day gathering starting on Tuesday in The Hague.
Spain had been the last holdout on a compromise deal that sees allies promise to reach 3.5 percent on core military needs over the next decade, and spend 1.5 percent on a looser category of “defense-related” expenditures such as infrastructure and cybersecurity.
Multiple diplomats at NATO said the agreement — set to be unveiled at the summit — had gone through with the approval of all 32 nations and that there was no exemption for Madrid.
But within minutes Sanchez came out saying he had struck an accord with NATO that would see his country keep respecting its commitments “without having to raise our defense spending to five percent of gross domestic product.”
“We understand the difficulty of the geopolitical context, fully respect the legitimate desire of other countries to increase their defense investment, if they so wish, but we are not going to do it,” he said.
NATO diplomats now fear that Spain’s position could undermine its carefully choreographed show of unity with Trump in The Hague, which already risks being overshadowed by the US decision to strike Iran.
“Not ok,” one diplomat said, on condition of anonymity.
Madrid’s claims came after Sanchez on Thursday threw a last-minute grenade into preparations for the gathering in the Netherlands by taking a strong stand against the agreement.
In a blistering letter to NATO chief Mark Rutte, Sanchez said that committing to a headline figure of five percent of GDP “would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive.”
That prompted a warning from Trump that “Spain has to pay what everybody else has to pay.”
“NATO is going to have to deal with Spain,” he told reporters on Friday, calling the country “notorious” for spending less on defense than other alliance members.
The outburst from Madrid’s center-left leader also sparked fury from other NATO members desperate to keep Trump — who has threatened not to protect allies spending too little — on their side.
The pledge is seen as key both to satisfying Trump and helping NATO build up the forces it needs to deter Russia.
After several days of wrangling involving Sanchez and Rutte, officials said Spain on Sunday signed off on the pledge.
Diplomats said that language around the spending pledge in the summit’s final declaration had been slightly softened from “we commit,” to “allies commit.”
They insisted the fundamentals of the deal remained intact and that it applied to Spain.
But government sources in Madrid said the linguistic tweak meant only those countries that opted-in were covered by the promise and that Rutte was set to send a letter to Sanchez saying that Spain will have “flexibility.”
Sanchez is facing a difficult balancing act of aligning with NATO allies and cajoling his junior coalition partner, the far-left alliance Sumar, which is hostile to increasing military spending.
Spain has been one of the lowest-spending NATO countries on defense in relative terms.
The country is only set to hit the alliance’s current target of two percent this year after a 10-billion-euro ($11.5 billion) injection.


UN chief warns of cycle of retaliation after US bombs Iran

Updated 1 min 8 sec ago
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UN chief warns of cycle of retaliation after US bombs Iran

  • ‘The people of the region cannot endure another cycle of destruction,’ Guterres said Sunday
  • IAEA chief noted that no one had been able to assess the underground damage at Fordo nuclear facility

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned Sunday against yet “another cycle of destruction” and retaliation following the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which he said marked a “perilous turn” in the region.
“I have repeatedly condemned any military escalation in the Middle East,” the secretary-general told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
“The people of the region cannot endure another cycle of destruction. And yet, we now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation.”
Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also called for restraint as he voiced fears over “potential widening” of the conflict.
“We have a window of opportunity to return to dialogue and diplomacy. If that window closes, violence and destruction could reach unthinkable levels and the global non-proliferation regime as we know it could crumble and fall,” Grossi said.
Speaking to the Security Council by video link, he said there were visible craters at Iran’s key Fordo nuclear facility, “indicating the use by the United States of America of ground-penetrating munitions.”
But Grossi noted that no one had been able to assess the underground damage at Fordo.
He added that “armed attacks on nuclear facilities should never take place and could result in radioactive releases with grave consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the State which has been attacked.”


Athens’ ancient theater closes for three-year restoration

Updated 29 min 36 sec ago
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Athens’ ancient theater closes for three-year restoration

ATHENS: For visitors to Athens, the ancient Odeon of Herod Atticus is the must-see theater at the foot of the Acropolis. Artists revere it for the majestic stage where legends have performed. And for the Greek capital’s residents it is the touchstone of their summer cultural calendar.

The Odeon of Herod Atticus recently opened the 70th season of the annual Athens Epidaurus Festival, a cherished annual tradition for many Greeks. But this edition marks the last before the theater that’s more than 18 centuries old shuts down for maintenance and restoration work that is expected to last at least three years.

While theater and dance grace its stage, music is its cornerstone. Renowned artists who have performed here include Luciano Pavarotti, Frank Sinatra, Coldplay, and Greece’s own Maria Callas.

Its closure will be a profound loss for spectators who have long enjoyed first-class performances under the stars in one of the world’s most iconic open-air theaters.

“When (people) think of the Athens cultural scene, everyone thinks of the festival and Herodion,” said Katerina Evangelatos, the festival’s artistic director since 2019, calling the theater by its commonly used Greek name. “It has become a synonym of the festival. It is the heart of the festival.”


Seven soldiers killed in clash with Al-Shabab terrorists

Updated 51 min 3 sec ago
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Seven soldiers killed in clash with Al-Shabab terrorists

KAMPALA: At least seven Ugandan soldiers have been killed in Somalia, an army spokesperson said Sunday, part of the ongoing fight against the Al-Shabab terrorist group.

The soldiers were part of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, or AUSSOM, tasked with combating Al-Shabab.

Recent attacks have stoked fears of a terrorist resurgence in the Horn of Africa nation, especially coming as AUSSOM struggles with insufficient troops and funding shortfalls.

The losses came during a three-day siege over a town in the Lower Shabelle region, a Ugandan Defense Ministry statement said, adding the town was recaptured from Al-Shabab.

“Unfortunately, we lost seven soldiers during the battle,” said Ugandan People’s Defense Force spokesman Felix Kulayigye,

AUSSOM, which replaced the previous ATMIS deployment, currently has 11,146 soldiers — although it stated in April it required an additional 8,000.

Somalia has long struggled with the violent insurgency, although the Al-Qaeda-linked group had been forced onto the defensive in 2022 and 2023 by Somali forces backed by African Union-led peacekeepers.

Recent attacks in key towns have provoked worries of the organization’s resurgence, with the militants targeting President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s convoy in capital, Mogadishu in March.


US orders more diplomatic staff to leave Iraq, Lebanon

Updated 22 June 2025
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US orders more diplomatic staff to leave Iraq, Lebanon

  • Washington has a ‘do not travel’ advisory in place for Lebanon
  • More diplomatic personnel left Iraq on Saturday and Sunday

BAGHDAD: The United States has ordered staff from its diplomatic missions in Iraq and Lebanon to leave the countries, with the departures taking place as American strikes on Sunday targeted nuclear facilities in nearby Iran.
More diplomatic personnel left Iraq on Saturday and Sunday as part of ongoing efforts to “streamline operations,” a US official told AFP.
The departures were a continuation of a process that started last week “out of an abundance of caution and due to heightened regional tensions,” the official added.
In Lebanon, the US embassy said the State Department on Sunday had ordered staffers’ family members and non-emergency US government personnel to leave the country.
A statement on the embassy website cited “the volatile and unpredictable security situation in the region.”
Earlier in the day, Washington joined Israel’s war against Iran, with US President Donald Trump announcing strikes on the Islamic republic’s main nuclear sites.
After the strikes, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader warned that bases in the region used to launch US attacks “will be considered legitimate targets.”
Fears were also growing over possible intervention by Iran-backed armed factions around the Middle East, who have threatened Washington’s interests should it join Israel’s campaign.
Israel has already fought a war in Lebanon with the Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah, leaving it badly weakened before a ceasefire took hold in November.
On Sunday, Hezbollah said the US strikes revealed “the true face of the United States of America as the largest threat to regional and international security and stability.”
The group has not previously expressed any intention to intervene militarily on Iran’s side, but its chief Naim Qassem said last week that it would “act as we see fit.”
Washington has a “do not travel” advisory in place for Lebanon.
Iraq, meanwhile, has for years navigated a delicate balancing act between its allies Tehran and Washington, has also long been a fertile ground for proxy battles.
On Sunday, the Iraqi government expressed “its deep concern and strong condemnation of the targeting of nuclear facilities” in Iran, spokesperson Basim Alawadi said.
“This military escalation constitutes a grave threat to peace and security in the Middle East and poses serious risks to regional stability,” he added.