US President Donald Trump has increased the refugee admissions ceiling by 10,000 for this year to allow more white South Africans to come into the country, Reuters reports.
Citing a signed presidential determination, Reuters reports that Trump based the decision on claims that white South Africans of Afrikaner ethnicity face an emergency situation due to the “incitement of racially motivated violence” by the government and political parties in the majority-Black country.
The report added that the presidential document, dated May 21, did not list specific examples of South Africa’s government allegedly inciting racial violence.
Reuters noted that a state department spokesperson declined to confirm the 10,000-person increase to the refugee cap but said the programme is a Trump priority, adding that the president would determine the refugee levels.
The development comes weeks after data from the Refugee Processing Centre showed that nearly all refugees admitted in the US since last October were white South Africans.
Of the 4,499 refugees resettled in the US, 4,496 were South African, while only three were from Afghanistan.
Trump has accused the administration of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa of persecuting Afrikaners. Ramaphosa has denied the allegations.
In Trump’s presidential determination, he cited “new disruptions” of refugee operations in South Africa as contributing to the urgent need to bring in more Afrikaners.
Citing a US official and an internal government email, Reuters said the Trump administration plans to bring white South African refugees to the White House for World Refugee Day on June 20 to emphasise the programme.