Report says United States refugee programme for whites only

The United States’ (US) refugee program for relocating “disfavoured minorities” in South Africa is intended for white people only.

This is according to a report by Reuters, which cited communication by the acting head of the US State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.

The news agency reported how a senior US diplomat in South Africa sought urgent clarification from Washington in early July over whether non-white applicants could be considered for its refugee program.

In February 2025, the U.S. government under President Donald Trump launched a pilot refugee program aimed at white South Africans, particularly Afrikaners.

The move was justified by concerns over alleged racial discrimination and violence linked to South Africa’s land reform policies.

The executive order behind the program called for the resettlement of “Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination.” Afrikaners are a white ethnic group descended mainly from Dutch settlers.

It has faced strong criticism from Pretoria and is based on claims of a “white genocide” in South Africa, allegations that have been widely discredited.

In a diplomatic cable sent July 8, US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires David Greene asked whether the embassy could process claims from racial minorities such as coloured South Africans, mixed-race people recognised under apartheid-era classifications.

Greene said that this is if they faced persecution similar to that cited in the program’s founding document.

In response to Greene’s cable, Spencer Chretien, the acting head of the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, replied via email that the program is intended for white people, according to three sources briefed on the exchange.

Reuters was not able to independently review the email.

The State Department did not directly address the email but said the policy also applies to “other racial minorities” in South Africa.

The department pointed to online guidance from May stating that applicants “must be of Afrikaner ethnicity or be a member of a racial minority in South Africa.”

According to the 2022 census, Black South Africans make up 81% of the population, while coloured South Africans account for 8% and those of Indian descent 3%. Afrikaners and other white South Africans make up 7%.

Policy developments

The policy has already led to the resettlement of 88 South Africans, with 59 arriving in May and another 15 expected by the end of August, according to a source.

At least one family identified as coloured has already been resettled under the program, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Trump has denied the policy is racially motivated. “They happen to be white, but whether they are white or Black makes no difference to me,” he said in May.

Still, the program stems from claims, promoted by far-right groups and amplified by figures like Elon Musk, that white South Africans, particularly farmers, are being targeted and persecuted.

South Africa’s government has repeatedly rejected such claims, saying there is no evidence of widespread, race-based attacks.

During a combative Oval Office meeting with President Cyril Ramaphosa in May, Trump showed a printed image of a Reuters video taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of what he falsely presented as evidence of mass killings of white South Africans.

The South African Chamber of Commerce said earlier this year that 67,000 people have expressed interest in the program.