DIRCO Responds to USA’s Refugee Policy Prioritising Afrikaners, Concerned by White Genocide Claims
- The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) weighed in on the Donald Trump administration's refugee policy
- The Presidential Memo by the United States of America (USA) prioritises Afrikaners when it comes to accepting refugees
- Donald Trump has previously claimed that Afrikaners were being persecuted in South Africa and that terrible things were happening
Source: Twitter
Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has dedicated a decade to reporting on the South African political landscape, crime, and social issues. He spent 10 years working for the Northern Natal Courier before transitioning to online journalism.
GAUTENG - The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has responded to the recent Presidential Memo by the United States of America (USA).
According to the new programme, the Trump administration is cutting down on refugee admissions. The limit under the Joe Biden administration was 125,000, but the Trump administration has trimmed it down to 7,500 for the upcoming year. The majority of those slots will be reserved for white Afrikaners from South Africa.
DIRCO is concerned about the new cuts
DIRCO has since released a statement about the new admission programme, noting with concern that it focused on the premise that Afrikaners were being persecuted. Trump has previously claimed that terrible things were happening in the country and that certain sections were being discriminated against.
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The South African government has previously disputed these claims, and DIRCO has once again labelled them as factually inaccurate.
“The claim of a 'white genocide' in South Africa is widely discredited and unsupported by reliable evidence. This is further evidenced by the courageous and patriotic open letter from prominent members of the Afrikaner community themselves, who have publicly rejected this very narrative.
“Therefore, a programme designed to facilitate their immigration and resettlement as refugees is fundamentally flawed,” the statement read.
DIRCO also stated that it valued its strategic partnership with the United States of America and remained committed to working together on issues of mutual concern as long as there was shared respect.
Trump administration publishes new memo
The Trump administration officially published the presidential memo in the Federal Register on Thursday, saying that the move to slash admissions was justified by humanitarian concerns and was in the national interest.
"The admissions numbers shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa pursuant to Executive Order 14204, and other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands," the memo stated.
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What you need to know about claims made against South Africa
- The FW De Klerk Foundation has rubbished Donald Trump's claims about racial discrimination.
- Donald Trump deletes a tweet claiming that South Africa was a dangerous place.
- The US State Department has explained why they are unhappy with South Africa at the moment.
- The US President has offered citizenship to farmers and their families if they don’t feel safe in South Africa.
- Elon Musk claimed on X that the media weren’t reporting on the genocide in South Africa.
Trump's refugee programme criticised
Briefly News reported that Trump had been criticised for overhauling the refugee resettlement programme.
Trump previously signed an executive order in February 2025, granting Afrikaners refugee status, citing alleged persecution.
Netizens slammed him and accused him of favouring Afrikaners purely based on their race.
Source: Briefly News
