The US Department of State has released a statement condemning in the “strongest terms” the Department of Home Affairs’ recent operation against a facility in Johannesburg, which processes Afrikaners who want to become “refugees” in America.
The State Department maintains that US officials were “detained” during the raid, even amid Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber’s denials on the matter.
The US State Department also alleges that the South African government publicly released the passport information of its officials, calling it an “unacceptable form of harassment” and “doxing.”
There is currently no evidence that any South African government official released passport information, while unverified social media accounts seem to have published passport information of a person purporting to be a US official, born in Burkina Faso.
The statement goes further to accuse South Africa of intimidating “US government personnel in South Africa on official business.”
“The United States will not tolerate such behaviour toward its government’s officials – or toward any of its citizens – who are legally and peacefully operating abroad. The public release of personal identifying information puts the official in harm’s way.”
The State Department says that should the South African Government not “hold those responsible accountable”, it will result in severe consequences.
“We call on the Government of South Africa to take immediate action to bring this situation under control and hold those responsible accountable.”
Schreiber on Wednesday released a statement rubbishing the reports on the raid, revealing that seven Kenyan nationals, who were working in South Africa illegally, were arrested at the refugee processing facility.
The processing of applications by Afrikaners is reportedly being done by RSC Africa, a Kenyan-based refugee support centre operated by Church World Service (CWS).
Schreiber denied that any US officials were detained, while the facility in question is also not a formal diplomatic site. Shreiber also denies that any prospective “refugees” were harassed, despite some reports quoting one unnamed woman.
