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OR Tambo International Airport.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO)says there is no basis to identify the group of white Afrikaners resettling in the US as refugees.
The first group of white Afrikaners is set to arrive in the US today, following the Trump administration’s decision to grant them refugee status.
They departed OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg yesterday.
The group reportedly includes 49 Afrikaners, comprising families, older people and some younger couples.
A press event is expected to be hosted by senior officials from the Departments of State and Homeland Security to welcome this first group, two departments tasked in President Donald Trump’s February 7 Executive Order with prioritizing their admission and resettlement.
DIRCO spokesperson Chrispin Phiri says while everyone has the right to leave the country, they should not do so under false pretenses.
“If there were refugees, South Africa would be the only country in the world where so-called persecuted persons are judges, ministers. So really, the designation that these individuals are being persecuted on the grounds of race and language is completely unfounded. If individuals want to leave and go to another country by any means, the Constitution allows you to do so; we have not stood in their way. But what we categorically are clear about is that these are not refugees.”
PODCAST | DIRCO spokesperson Chrispin Phiri’s full interview on The Morning Brief on SAfm:
