A group known as Amerikaners, made up of white South Africans seeking resettlement, has been enlisted by the United States to assist in identifying applicants for a Trump administration refugee initiative targeting “Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination.”
In a notice released on Monday, the U.S. embassy in South Africa announced that Amerikaners has been designated as a State Department referral partner. The organization will collect details from potential candidates, evaluate their eligibility, and forward qualifying cases to the U.S Refugee Admissions Program.
The South African government has condemned the move, dismissing the claims of discrimination as baseless. Pretoria emphasized that members of the white minority, who remain the country’s most economically advantaged group, do not fit the international definition of refugees.
Reports indicate that Washington is considering admitting about 30,000 white South Africans within the next year, a sharp increase from the fewer than 100 accepted as of early August, according to local media.
