Why South Africa calls the US Afrikaner refugee plan ‘apartheid 2.0’
South Africa has rejected the United States’ decision to process Afrikaner immigration under a refugee programme, calling it discriminatory and warning it amounts to a revival of apartheid-era privilege.
Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, said the initiative does not meet the definition of refugee protection under international law and accused Washington of giving undue preference to a historically privileged group.
No genocide, no refugee claim
Lamola stressed that the Afrikaner community does not face persecution that would qualify them for refugee status under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.
“We don’t agree that this is a refugee programme, because there’s no genocide in South Africa,” he said. “Afrikaners do not fit the definition of refugees under the UN Convention. This is, in reality, a fast-tracking process of immigration by the US.”
The United States has framed the programme as a humanitarian measure, citing concerns over crime and economic insecurity in South Africa. But Pretoria sees the move as politically charged and unjustified.
Preferential treatment?
South Africa argues that by creating a pathway only for Afrikaners, the US is engaging in preferential treatment that recalls the racial hierarchies of the apartheid system.
“With our history as a country, a preferential treatment of Afrikaners who are not fleeing genocide amounts to Apartheid 2.0,” Lamola said.
South Africa thus maintains it has no duty to assist with the programme, since it does not constitute a legitimate refugee initiative.
In May, the first group of about 50 Afrikaners - descendants of South Africa’s first European settlers - were flown to the US on a chartered flight after former President Donald Trump authorised the move, Viory reports.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
