Trump administration may expand refugee programme for white South Africans

The administration of United States President Donald Trump is reportedly considering more than doubling the annual limit for refugee admissions so it can admit more white South Africans.

A report obtained by Reuters news agency showed that under the proposal, the current ceiling of 7,500 refugees for the 2026 fiscal year could be increased by as much as 10,000 places.

This would significantly expand the programme that has already been largely directed at South Africans of Afrikaner descent.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that members of the Afrikaner minority group are being persecuted and having their land taken from them because of their race.

The South African government and numerous Afrikaner and other groups and organisations in the country have refuted his allegations.

Afrikaners make up about 60% of the country’s white minority, which itself accounts for about 7.2% of the population.

The US ​admitted about 4,500 South Africans as refugees through the first six months of the fiscal year, with three Afghans the only other people approved.

An internal US government ⁠email seen Reuters shows that at least four of the South Africans have already returned home.

Trump has portrayed the country as dangerous and oppressive for whites, yet thousands of white South Africans living abroad have ​returned to the country in recent years.