Market News
First white South Africans arrive in US as Trump claims they face 'genocide'
By Tim Cocks, Shafiek Tassiem and Daphne Psaledakis
Summary
- U.S. prioritizes Afrikaner arrivals while blocking others
- Forty-nine South Africans en route to US
- Trump says the white refugees face racial discrimination; South Africa says there's no evidence of persecution
- US has 'got wrong end of stick,' says South African President Ramaphosa
JOHANNESBURG/WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Monday welcomed 59 white South Africans it has granted refugee status in the U.S. for being deemed victims of racial discrimination, a move that has drawn criticism from Democrats and stirred confusion in South Africa.
U.S. President Donald Trump has blocked mostly non-white refugee admissions from the rest of the world but in February offered to resettle Afrikaners, the descendants of mostly Dutch settlers, saying they faced discrimination.