Afrikaners land in US: ‘This looks like an immigration programme’ – refugee rights expert

CapeTalk’s Lester Kiewit speaks with Bill Frelick, Head of the Refugee and Migrant Programme at Human Rights Watch.

Listen below:

In February, US President Donald Trump announced that Afrikaner South Africans would be allowed to apply for refugee status.

This process has been fast-tracked, and 49 Afrikaans-speaking, white South Africans have already arrived in the US.

Their refugee status is partly based on false allegations that land was being confiscated from Afrikaners.

Their arrival comes just one week after Trump asked the US Supreme Court to revoke the legal status of half a million immigrants to the US, many of whom have protected status.

In addition, Trump issued an executive order shortly after his inauguration, halting all refugee resettlement to the United States.

Eighteen days later, he issued another executive order making Afrikaners the only exception to this rule.

“This is a group who are not living in refugee camps, they have not fled their country, they do not bear any similarities to people who have been waiting years.” 

- Bill Frelick, Refugee and Migrant Programme - Human Rights Watch

Most refugees would have spent years in refugee camps after fleeing danger, and would go through extensive screening processes before being allowed into the United States.

Frelick continues that by definition, a refugee must have crossed a border from their home country to escape persecution or danger, which this group did not do.

RELATED: [WATCH] Afrikaners classified as refugees by Trump depart for America

“This is looking suspiciously like an immigration programme rather than a refugee programme.”

- Bill Frelick, Refugee and Migrant Programme - Human Rights Watch

Frelick says this programme seems to be based solely on the whims of the president rather than the actual needs of refugees.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview for more.