Afrikaner defends the refugee status in us

Last week the 46-year-old Charl Kleinhaus lived on his family farm in the province of Mpumalanga, South Africa. With its picturesque beauty, wildlife and deep canyons, it is known as “the place where the sun rises”.

His new house – for now – is a budget hotel near an American highway.

He and dozens of other white South Africans were moved to the US under the controversial policy of President Donald Trump to protect them against the discrimination with which he claims that they are confronted -an accusation with which South Africa rejects.

Kleinhaus defends the American president and told the BBC that he left his home country after receiving death threats in WhatsApp reports.

“I had to leave a house with five bedrooms that I will now lose,” Mr Kleinhaus tells the BBC, adding that he also left his car, his dogs and even his mother. “I didn’t come for fun here,” he adds.

The contrast in Huizen cannot be grim. But for Mr Kleinhaus his situation in Buffalo, New York is already a better one. “My children are safe,” says Mr Kleinhaus, whose wife died in a traffic accident in 2006.

The status of white South African farmers has long been a rally-cry on the right and the extreme right of American politics.

Trump and his closest ally, born in South Africa Elon Musk, have even argued that there has been a “genocide” of white farmers in South Africa -a claim that has been discredited on a large scale.

In February, Trump signed an executive order that granted the status of the refugees to Afrikaners, such as Mr Kleinhaus, who, according to him, was prosecuted.

Mr Kleinhaus is one of a group of 59 who arrived on Tuesday at Dulles Airport, near Washington DC, after Trump’s administration accelerated their applications.

He admits that he was surprised how quickly he came to the US and that he is grateful to Trump. “I finally felt that someone in this world sees what’s going on,” he says.

While he and his family arrived with others at the airport, they were greeted with red, white and blue balloons. He describes the splendor as “overwhelming”.

Afrikaners are a white ethnic minority that South -Africa led during the apartheid age and the racist policy of segregation in the country until the regime was officially abolished in 1994.

But more than 30 years later, black farmers only have a small part of the best agricultural land in the country, with the majority still in white hands.

That has led to anger about the slow pace of change. Kleinhaus acknowledges that black South Africans have suffered as well as him.

In January, the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a controversial law with which the government could grab the private country without compensation – in certain circumstances, when it is considered “fair and in the public interest”.

The South African government says that no country has yet been seized. But Mr Kleinhaus says that as soon as there is a government claim on your country – as he says is the case with his – it becomes impossible to function.

“Your country will be worthless – the expropriation of the country has gone too far,” he says. “People are afraid of that. Other Afrikaners who criticize us live in a bubble.”

Some colleague Africaners have described Mr Kleinhaus and the group as opportunists, and that the victim of crime is not equivalent to the type of persecution that refugees status earns.

Mr Kleinhaus acknowledges that the murder percentage of farmers is low in South Africa, but says he does not want to become a victim. “There are people in my area who have been shot and killed,” he says.

He says that he has received threats from members of the local community: “I would regularly get messages on WhatsApp say:” We will get rid of you, you’re on my country “.”

Mr. Kleinhaus says he received one message before he left for the US stating: “We’ll come for you, it’s better to be awake.”

He also says that his agricultural machinery was damaged and that the local police did not act on his reports.

Ramaphosa called the group that traveled to the American “cowards” and says that they do not want to tackle the inequalities of the apartheid age.

“As South Africans we are resilient,” he said earlier this week. “We don’t run away from our problems. We have to stay here and solve our problems.”

What makes the resettlement of the Afrikaners to the US particularly controversial, is that other refugees are prohibited, including Afghans who had removed their temporarily protected status earlier this week.

The Ministry of Interior Security (DHS) said that the movement was justified because the safety and the economic situation in Afghanistan had improved – despite criticism from opposition laws and law groups.

Mr Kleinhaus says he is sympathetic: “I mean, I feel sorry for the Afghans that they can’t get here. But I know there is a process. And I know when and if you are approved for the process, they take care of you.”

Does he worry that he is used as a political pawn by Trump? And that another president can turn this decision in four years?

Mr Kleinhaus pauses and says: “Yes, it is scary, but I am a religious person. Just to be in this first group is an act of God, I believe, because there was a chance of 0.0 that you were selected for the first call.”

Kleinhaus has been examined for anti -Semitic messages on social media, which have since been removed.

When discussing one of these, he says that he copied and pasted someone else’s thoughts, and that he received morphine as part of medical treatment at the time – although he admitted that this was not an excuse.

The post of 2023 was made in a moment of anger, he adds, after he had seen a video – not verified by the BBC – who claimed to show Jews who spit to Christians in Israel.

Mr Kleinhaus insists that the comments were specific for one time, and not a broader remark about Jewish people. “Even now, when I see someone going against my religion, I will talk to it,” he said.

The US government is confronted with questions about the control process for those who are being redesigned. The UN refugee office told the BBC that it was not involved in the screening process for the Afrikaners, because it would normally be for refugees who go to the US.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has previously stated that it screens the social media activity of immigrants on anti -Semitism and the use of the use of applicants.

The Trump government has cited accusations of anti-Semitism, as its officials have arrested in recent months and have tried to deport Pro-Palestinian activists.

In a statement to the BBC, a senior DHS officer said: “The Ministry of the Interior Security Security all refugee recipients. All claims of misconduct are thoroughly investigated and the correct measures will be taken if necessary. DHS does not comment on the status of individual application.”

Since the return to the office, Trump has launched a performance to reduce immigration more broadly. So, is Mr Kleinhaus worried about a recoil from his group offered to the US?

“People should not think that we just use this,” he says. “We come here to contribute to the country.

“I am afraid that it will fall apart because I believe this is God’s plan for me.

“My life is in his hands. And if he didn’t want me to come, I wouldn’t be here.”