KEY POINTS
- South African air council approved 49 afrikaner refugees to fly to the United States.
- It is in reaction to trump’s divisive order of identifying Afrikaners as refugees.
- Most South African officials said this policy to be a politically driven and deceiving policy.
South Africa’s International Air Services Council, under the Department of Transport, officially approved a controversial charter flight carrying 49 South African Afrikaner refugees to the U.S., which departed from OR Tambo International Airport on Sunday.
The council approved the flight application to the United States formally
Department of Transport spokesman Collen Msibi told Newzroom Afrika at the airport that officials received the application on May 5 and processed it through the full regulatory framework. An autonomous council that handled federal air services was in support of issue of a foreign operators permit to the aircraft.
The applicants clearly stated that the flight targeted Afrikaners seeking refuge in the U.S., and officials reviewed and also verified the documentation detailing the number of passengers, flight path, and crew qualifications.
The charter plane, owned by a Texas-based company, was required to notify South Africa’s Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS), also called the Airspace Management, of its flight plan. The aircraft stopped in Dakar, Senegal, and Washington, D.C., on its way, and eventually returned to Texas.
Political controversy evoked by U.S. designations of afrikaner refugees
This flight extends a policy announced by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who issued an executive order in February 2025 to grant refugee status to Afrikaners the descendants of Dutch and French settlers due to alleged discrimination. The decision has sparked substantial uproar.
The South African Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation also rejected the relocation as politically driven, saying that the U.S. government is fighting against the constitutional democracy of South Africa.
The ministry believes that the labeling of South Africans as refugees if they do no receive persecution, is wrong, as well as dangerous.
Refugee priority raises ethical concerns
Trump’s refugee policy has caused a lot of international disparity. In January 2025, he canceled the United States refugee admissions program, which means nearly 1
Officials sparked complaints of racial bias and favoritism by deciding to admit Afrikaners first, despite the group’s historical advantage in South Africa.
Officials to accommodate Afrikaner refugees in Washington, D.C
On monday, diplomats from the U.S. Department of State and Department of Homeland Security are to greet the Afrikaners in Washington, D.C. Although this flight is the maiden voyage, some experts estimate that further charter operations under the directive may be forthcoming.
