49 Afrikaners who have been granted refugee status under a resettlement programme initiated by US President Donald Trump have landed on American soil on Monday evening (SA time).
The group — which happens to be the first of many who applied for asylum — boarded their plane at the OR Tambo International airport on Sunday night. Their move comes after Trump decided to grant a small group of South Africans refugee status amid false claims they are facing persecution in their home country.
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Chrispin Phiri, the spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Coorporation (DIRCO) said that should problems arise abroad, it will be difficult for the Afrikaners to engage with the diplomatic services of SA, because this would mean that they then revoke their refugee status.
“In terms of international law and refugee law, you then revoke your refugee status in your host country because as you can imagine, even the word refugee, it suggests that you are seeking refuge in a particular country. So you can’t be seeking refuge and then all of a sudden decide let me go back home, have a braai and then go back,” said Phiri.
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