Afrikaners who left for US do not qualify as refugees: Lamola

The group of Afrikaners who left South Africa on Sunday for the US do not qualify as refugees. 

This is according to international relations and co-operation minister Ronald Lamola. 

He said on Monday, during a press conference about the preparations for the G20 Leaders' Summit, that those who left “do not qualify for that [refugee] status according to us”. 

He said that in line with the international definition, the group did not qualify for that status. He reiterated that there was no persecution of white Afrikaners in South Africa.

He said statistics in South Africa, including the police reports, do not support the assertion of persecution of white South Africans based on their race.

He added that crime in the country affected everyone irrespective of race or gender, and was a societal challenge.

“There is no data at all that backs that there is a persecution of white South Africans or white Afrikaners, [or] to be more particular, [those] who are farmers. In fact, more farm dwellers are also affected by crime, and white farmers do get affected by crime, just like any other South African who gets affected by crime,” he said. 

A group of 49 white Afrikaners who have been granted “refugee” status in the US left South Africa on Sunday. 

Lamola said all those who left have been vetted, and there has been a process which involved the South African police services. 

“As I have said earlier, they can’t provide any proof of any persecution because there is none. There is no any form of persecution against white South Africans, to Afrikaner South Africans.

“We are glad that a number of organisations, even from Afrikaner structures, have denounced this so-called 'persecution',” he said.

He added that they have not yet applied the issue of non-refoulement (forcing them to return) at this stage, and it was an issue for the departments of international relations & co-operation and home affairs to deal with.

“We did mention it in the statement, but it is South Africans who have made their own choice in terms of their rights to go to any other country.”

Lamola said when they tell the US that there were no persecutions, the US says they have an executive order which they have to implement.    

“According to them, there is persecution, as you hear from time to time that bad things are happening in our country. We continue to state that there are no bad things that are targeting white people with any intentions, particularly Afrikaner farmers in South Africa.”

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