Cape Town, South Africa (AP) — The US embassy in South Africa said Thursday it received a list of more than 67,000 people interested in the status of US refugees.
The list was given to the embassy by the US South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry and said it became a contact for white South Africans asking about the programme announced last month by the Trump administration. The Chamber of Commerce said the list does not constitute an official application.
Trump cut US funding to South Africa on February 7, citing “the government's actions to promote disproportionate violence against racially disadvantaged landowners.”
Trump's executive order specifically mentioned Africans, a white minority group descended from Dutch and French colonial settlers who first came to South Africa in the 17th century. The order directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Christa Noem to prioritize humanitarian relief for Africans, victims of “unfair racism,” and resettle in the United States under a refugee program.
South Africa has around 2.7 million Africans, but the population is 62 million. Trump's decision to provide white South African refugee status has halted the resettlement program for US refugees, opposed to his larger policies.
The South African government says Trump's claims that it targets Africans through the Land Expropriation Act are inaccurate and driven primarily by misinformation. Trump posted on his true social platform that Africans were seizing farmland when land was not being taken under the new law.
The executive order also criticized South Africa's foreign policy, particularly the decision to condemn Israel against Palestinians in Gaza, in incidents at the UN's top court. The Trump administration has accused South Africa of supporting Palestinian extremist groups Hamas and Iran, and taking an anti-American stance. The US also expelled the South African ambassador and accused him of being anti-American and anti-Trump.
Officials at the US Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa's capital, confirmed the receipt of a list of names from the US South African Chamber of Commerce, but did not give any further details.
Neil Diamond, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said the list includes 67,042 names. Most were people between 25 and 45 years old and had children.
He told Newsroom's African television channel that his organization had flooded with requests for further information since Trump's orders and had contacted the State Department and the Embassy in Pretoria.
“That's not the room's fault,” he said.
Diamond said only US authorities can officially register US resettlement applications. The US embassy in South Africa said it is awaiting further instructions on the implementation of Trump's order.
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AP Africa News: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
