The White Afrikaans ‘refugees’ in the US are making international headlines

CapeTalk’s Clarence Ford speaks with Barbara Friedman about this and other stories trending online.

Listen below:

Forty-nine white Afrikaans-speaking South Africans have arrived in the US after being granted refugee status in record time.

Normally achieving refugee status can take years, but this group received it in just three months.

With videos of the group surfacing online some members of the public are perplexed, as they do not look like refugees.

Some in the group, which is allegedly fleeing persecution, are travelling in the latest fashions with iPhones, passports, and plenty of luggage.

'Surely refugees should be fleeing for their lives. Not packing 30 suitcases hanging out at the airport,' commented one person online.

Many other people have slammed the group on social media, calling the whole situation a 'joke.'

'It’s not every day that you see a refugee with a lekker baby stroller flying out of an international airport like a tourist,’ writes one.

"I must say I have never seen refugees doing that either!" 

- Barbara Friedman, Primedia's Digital Content Editor

Most actual refugees are forced to flee their country with nothing but the clothes on their back and spend months if not years in refugee camps.

What has upset many people is the fact that all other refugees are being stopped from entering the United States.

The Episcopal Church, which has helped resettle refugees in the US for forty years, has reportedly refused to assist the Afrikaner group citing moral opposition.

Scroll up to the audio player for more.