US has let in 4,499 refugees since October - all but three were South African

Trump has given priority to Afrikaners, a white minority group he says is being persecuted. South Africa has objected to his characterisation. US has let in 4,499 refugees since October - all but three were South African Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. The first group of white South Africans granted refugee status arrived in the US in May last year A man wearing sunglasses on his head with his arm around a woman. They are standing on the left and each holding a mini American flag. To their right, is an older woman. Behind her is a man. The background appears to be a black curtain. President Donald Trump's overhaul of US refugee policies has created a major shift in the number and nationalities of people admitted to the country, US government data shows. Since October 2025, 4,499 refugees were resettled in the US, according to the Refugee Processing Center. All, except three from Afghanistan, were South African. In the last full fiscal year of the Biden administration, which started in October 2023, 125,000 people were accepted from 85 countries. Last year, Trump halted all refugee admissions, including for applicants from warzones, but allowed Afrikaners, a white minority group he said was persecuted, to seek resettlement. South Africa objected to his characterisation. In announcing the change, Trump said it would help strengthen national security and public safety. Priority was to be given to Afrikaner South Africans and "other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands", according to an announcement. The president "has explained why we are resettling Afrikaner refugees in the United States", a state department spokesperson told the BBC when asked about the latest resettlement figures. "The US position on this humanitarian initiative has not changed." Diplomatic tensions between Washington and Pretoria have been rising since Trump returned to the White House. Just over a year ago, South Africa's ambassador in the US, Ebrahim Rasool, was expelled after accusing Trump of "mobilising a supremacism" and trying to "project white victimhood as a dog whistle". Then, in the Oval Office in May, Trump confronted his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, where he claimed that white farmers in South Africa were targets of persecution and "genocide". Ramaphosa tried to refute Trump's assertions and was backed up by John Steenhuisen, the white leader of the Democratic Alliance, which is part of the coalition government. "Certainly, the majority of South Africa's commercial and smallholder farmers really do want to stay in South Africa and make it work," Steenhuisen told Trump. In October, the South African government criticised the US decision to prioritise refugee applications from white Afrikaners, saying claims of a white genocide have been widely discredited and lacked reliable evidence. It highlighted an open letter published by prominent members of the Afrikaner community - including academics, businesspeople and descendants of apartheid-era figures - who rejected the narrative, with some signatories calling the relocation scheme racist. The first group of 68 South African refugees reached the US in May last year. The numbers began ticking up this year, with 2,848 people arriving across February and March. They have resettled across the US, with the highest concentration - 543 - living in Texas. A head and shoulders image of farmer Marthinus. He is wearing a blue puffer jacket and a blue shirt and white vest can be seen underneath it. White South Africans divided on US refugee offer Cyril Ramaphosa visits Donald trump at the White House in May. South Africa hits back at US refugee plan to favour white Afrikaners People from the first group of white South Africans granted refugee status in the US hold US flags as they attend a meet and greet event, at Dulles International Airport Is there a genocide of white South Africans as Trump claims? Ulrich Janse van Vuuren, with a cap and sunglasses, overlooking the ocean in South Africa Do Afrikaners want to take Trump up on his South African refugee offer? A woman looking at her mobile phone and the graphic BBC News Africa Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent. for more news from the African continent. 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