Tag Archives: Genocide

Lifestyle

South Africa urges white farmers to stay amid U.S. refugee controversy

Maravi Post Reporter

South Africa’s Deputy President Paul Mashatile has urged white farmers, particularly Afrikaners, to remain in the country and work with the government to overcome challenges facing rural communities. His comments come in response to the departure of 49 white South Africans who were resettled in the United States as refugees this week under a policy initiative driven by President Donald Trump.

Speaking at the National Maize Producers Organisation (NAMPO) Show – Southern Africa’s largest agricultural exhibition – Mashatile sought to reassure the farming community of the government’s support.

“The farmers that we have met here today are saying they are happy to stay in South Africa,” Mashatile said. “All they need is for us to work with them to address the challenges they face. One of them is rural roads… Then there’s rural safety because we know over the years, people in the farming communities have been attacked, and crime has been rife. They want us to work with them on that.”

Mashatile emphasized that the government does not want Afrikaner farmers to leave the country, highlighting their essential role in agriculture and national development.

“We’re not going anywhere, and we do encourage those who are leaving to please stay. There’s no need to leave — let’s build this beautiful country,” he added.

U.S. Refugee Policy Reignites Controversy

The latest migration of white South Africans to the United States has reignited a long-standing controversy over race, violence, and political rhetoric. According to the U.S. State Department, the group of 49 Afrikaners brought to the U.S. as refugees qualifies under asylum laws and fulfills priorities set by President Trump.

“This has been a concern that the President has had for a very long time,” said Tommy Pigott, Principal Deputy Spokesperson at the U.S. State Department. “He’s been clear about that for years – about the abuses we are seeing in South Africa. So this is a priority outlined by the president.”

Pigott insisted that the recent refugee arrivals “met the same standard that is across the board for refugees.”

Trump’s Genocide Claim Sparks Diplomatic Tension

Earlier this week, President Trump made headlines by accusing South Africa’s government of allowing a “genocide” of white farmers – his harshest statement yet since returning to office. The claim, which has been widely disputed, represents an escalation in Trump’s broader criticism of South Africa’s Black-led government, which he has repeatedly accused of enabling anti-white racism.

South African officials have rejected these accusations, calling them inflammatory and inaccurate. The government maintains that while rural crime is a national concern, violence affects all communities regardless of race, and policies are aimed at addressing security for everyone.

Historical and Political Context

The issue of white farmers in South Africa remains a sensitive topic in the country’s post-apartheid landscape. Land ownership, rural development, and safety have long been at the center of political debates. While crime in farming communities is a documented problem, analysts caution against using it to draw racially charged conclusions or justify migration narratives without nuance.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/15/04/37/09/ED_PYR_1504379_20250516044249.mp4
Lifestyle

U.S. sanctions on ICC prosecutor cripple tribunal’s work

Maravi Post Reporter

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has lost access to his email, and his bank accounts have been frozen.

The Hague-based court’s American staffers have been told that if they travel to the U.S. they risk arrest.

Some nongovernmental organizations have stopped working with the ICC and the leaders of one won’t even reply to emails from court officials.

Those are just some of the hurdles facing court staff since U.S. President Donald Trump in February slapped sanctions on its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, according to interviews with current and former ICC officials, international lawyers and human rights advocates.

The sanctions will “prevent victims from getting access to justice,” said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

Trump sanctioned the court after a panel of ICC judges in November issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.

Judges found there was reason to believe that the pair may have committed war crimes by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeting civilians in Israel’s war on Gaza.

Staffers and allies of the ICC said the sanctions have made it increasingly difficult for the tribunal to conduct basic tasks, let alone seek justice for victims of war crimes or genocide.

A spokesperson for the ICC and for Khan declined to comment. In February, ICC President Judge Tomoko Akane said that the sanctions “constitute serious attacks against the Court’s States Parties, the rule of law based international order and millions of victims.”

Order targets chief prosecutor

The February order bans Khan and other non-Americans among the ICC’s 900 staff members from entering the U.S., which is not a member of the court. It also threatens any person, institution or company with fines and prison time if they provide Khan with “financial, material, or technological support.”

The sanctions are hampering work on a broad array of investigations, not just the one into Israel’s leaders.

The ICC had been investigating atrocities in Sudan and had issued arrest warrants for former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges that include genocide. That probe has ground to a halt even as reports mount of new atrocities in Sudan, according to an attorney representing ICC prosecutor Eric Iverson, who is fighting the sanctions in U.S. courts. Iverson filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking protection from the sanctions.

Iverson “cannot do, what I would describe as, basic lawyer functions,” said Allison Miller, who is representing Iverson in the suit.

American staffers at the organization, like Iverson, have been warned by its attorneys that they risk arrest if they return home to visit family, according to ICC officials. Six senior officials have left the court over concerns about sanctions.

One reason the the court has been hamstrung is that it relies heavily on contractors and non-governmental organizations. Those businesses and groups have curtailed work on behalf of the court because they were concerned about being targeted by U.S. authorities, according to current and former ICC staffers.

Microsoft, for example, cancelled Khan’s email address, forcing the prosecutor to move to Proton Mail, a Swiss email provider, ICC staffers said. His bank accounts in his home country of the U.K. have been blocked.

Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.

Staffers at an NGO that plays an integral role in the court’s efforts to gather evidence and find witnesses said the group has transferred money out of U.S. bank accounts because they fear it might be seized by the Trump administration.

Senior leadership at two other U.S.-based human rights organizations told the AP that their groups have stopped working with the ICC. A senior staffer at one told the AP that employees have stopped replying to emails from court officials out of fear of triggering a response from the Trump administration.

The cumulative effect of such actions has led ICC staffers to openly wonder whether the organization can survive the Trump administration, according to ICC officials who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal.

One questioned whether the court would make it through the next four years.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/96/22/07/ED_PYR_1496227_20250515090103.mp4
Lifestyle

South Africa: Cyril Ramaphosa to meet with Donald Trump in US next week

Maravi Post Reporter

It is difficult to hide: relations between South Africa and the United States are strained and have been so for months.

Since Donald Trump took office again as president of the United States, the two countries have repeatedly clashed over the US plan to resettle white South African farmers, which Donald Trump claims face “racial discrimination” in South Africa.

And in March, Washington expelled the South African ambassador Ebrahim Rasool over critical comments he had made on the subject of the Trump administration.

Could a meeting however help improve the situation?

Late on Wednesday, Pretoria announced that South African president Cyril Ramaphosa would travel to Washington next week. On the agenda is a meeting with Donald Trump.

While the South African presidency did not further comment on the issues to be discussed by the two presidents, the tensions surrounding the white farmers’ refugee status, which the US granted earlier this week, are likely to be included in the talks.

The US welcomed 59 white South Africans as refugees this Monday, the start of what the Trump administration said is a larger relocation plan for minority Afrikaner farmers who Trump has claimed are being persecuted in their homeland because of their race.

South Africa denies the allegations and says whites in the majority Black country are not being singled out for persecution.

No evidence of “genocide” of white farmers

The Republican president has singled out South Africa over what the US calls racist laws against whites and has accused the government of “fueling” violence against white farmers.

The South African government says the relatively small number of killings of white farmers should be condemned but are part of the country’s problems with violent crime and are not racially motivated.

Trump said Monday that there was “a genocide taking place” against white farmers that was being ignored by international media.

This claim has previously however been discredited, most recently so by a South African court ruling in February.

The US criticism of what it calls South Africa’s racist, anti-white laws appears to refer to South Africa’s affirmative action laws that advance opportunities for Black people, and a new land expropriation law that gives the government power to take private land without compensation.

Although the government says the land law is not a confiscation tool and refers to unused land that can be redistributed for the public good, some Afrikaner groups say it could allow their land to be seized and redistributed to some of the country’s Black majority.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/94/59/05/ED_PYR_1494595_20250515043304.mp4
Lifestyle

South Africa: Cyril Ramaphosa to meet with Donald Trump in US next week

Maravi Post Reporter

It is difficult to hide: relations between South Africa and the United States are strained and have been so for months.

Since Donald Trump took office again as president of the United States, the two countries have repeatedly clashed over the US plan to resettle white South African farmers, which Donald Trump claims face “racial discrimination” in South Africa.

And in March, Washington expelled the South African ambassador Ebrahim Rasool over critical comments he had made on the subject of the Trump administration.

Could a meeting however help improve the situation?

Late on Wednesday, Pretoria announced that South African president Cyril Ramaphosa would travel to Washington next week. On the agenda is a meeting with Donald Trump.

While the South African presidency did not further comment on the issues to be discussed by the two presidents, the tensions surrounding the white farmers’ refugee status, which the US granted earlier this week, are likely to be included in the talks.

The US welcomed 59 white South Africans as refugees this Monday, the start of what the Trump administration said is a larger relocation plan for minority Afrikaner farmers who Trump has claimed are being persecuted in their homeland because of their race.

South Africa denies the allegations and says whites in the majority Black country are not being singled out for persecution.

No evidence of “genocide” of white farmers

The Republican president has singled out South Africa over what the US calls racist laws against whites and has accused the government of “fueling” violence against white farmers.

The South African government says the relatively small number of killings of white farmers should be condemned but are part of the country’s problems with violent crime and are not racially motivated.

Trump said Monday that there was “a genocide taking place” against white farmers that was being ignored by international media.

This claim has previously however been discredited, most recently so by a South African court ruling in February.

The US criticism of what it calls South Africa’s racist, anti-white laws appears to refer to South Africa’s affirmative action laws that advance opportunities for Black people, and a new land expropriation law that gives the government power to take private land without compensation.

Although the government says the land law is not a confiscation tool and refers to unused land that can be redistributed for the public good, some Afrikaner groups say it could allow their land to be seized and redistributed to some of the country’s Black majority.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/94/59/05/ED_PYR_1494595_20250515043304.mp4
Lifestyle

Episcopal church won’t assist resettling South Africans ‘refugees’ in US

Maravi Post Reporter

The Episcopal Church in the United States is refusing a directive from the federal government to help resettle white Afrikaans-speaking South Africans granted refugee status.

Its presiding Bishop, Sean Rowe, said on Monday that the church’s migration ministries will instead halt its decades-long partnership with the government.

Rowe said the church has a longstanding “commitment to racial justice and reconciliation” and that it could not “be itself” if it took part in this step.

The group, which arrived in the US on Monday, is at the centre of a growing row as to why they were granted fast-tracked refugee status by President Donald Trump.

He has falsely claimed they’re victims of a “genocide”, even as his administration halted all other refugee admissions, including for people living in warzones.

Rowe said it made no sense that the South Africans had been fast-tracked.

“We’re sad and really ashamed that many refugees who are being denied entrance to the United States are brave people who have worked alongside our military in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now face danger in their home countries because of their service to our country,” he said.

The group jumped ahead of thousands of would-be refugees overseas who had been undergoing years of vetting and processing.

South Africa’s government has denied allegations of discrimination against the country’s white minority citizens.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/85/96/04/ED_PYR_1485964_20250514073517.mp4
Lifestyle

White South Africans welcomed in US not “refugees”, South African leaders and scholars say

Maravi Post Reporter

South African leaders and scholars dispute the qualification of “refugees” for white South Africans relocating to the United States, after US authorities welcomed a first group of Afrikaners on Monday.

The group, made of 49 people according to Associated Press and 59 according to Reuters, were granted refugee status under a relocation programme announced by the Trump administration in February. 

While obtaining for refugee status in the US can be a yearslong process, the US government fast-tracked applications from white South Africans, under the justification that they were the targets of persecution and racial discrimination in their homeland. 

US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that Afrikaners were victims of a genocide, echoing the far-right conspiracy theory supported by his South African-born adviser Elon Musk. 

In February, a South African court dismissed claims of a white genocide in the country as “clearly imagined and not real.”

South African authorities have also repeatedly disputed allegations of persecution and discrimination against this white minority group.

“A refugee is someone who has to leave their country out of fear of political persecution, religious persecution or economic persecution, and they don’t fit that bill”, South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa said during a conference in Abidjan on Monday.

“Those people who have fled are not being persecuted. They are not being hounded. They are not being treated badly. They are leaving ostensibly because they don’t want to embrace the changes that are taking place in our country, in accordance with our Constitution”, he added.

Afrikaners, who mainly descend from Dutch settlers, are among the “most economically privileged” in the country, South Africa’s government said in a February statement.

“Certainly, these individuals don’t fall in the category of refugee,and the reason why the South African government has to insist on this is because it ys going to then give credibility to the lie that indeed they are being persecuted, that indeed they are running away from some conflict, some white genocide and so forth”, said Dr. Oscar van Heerden, senior research fellow at the centre for African Diplomacy and Leadership at the University of Johannesburg.

Dr. van Heerden said the US had to call white South African “refugees” to justify the expenses necessary to their relocation.

“We traditionally over the last 30 years have been a receiver of refugees from all over the Southern African continent”, he said.

“And now because of this stunt that is being pulled by the Trump administration, they are trying to say to the world that we ourselves have now become a country where people are seeking refugee status.” 

In a phone conversation, South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa told Donald Trump he had received false information on Afrikaners’ situation.  

Trump told reporters he planned to address the issue with South African leadership in a meeting next week. 

The group of Afrikaners arrived at Dulles International Airport outside Washington DC on a private charter plane and were greeted by Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar. 

The US government has made the resettlement of white South Africans a priority, despite engaging in a wider crackdown on asylum seekers from other countries. 

On the same day that Afrikaners arrived in the US, the Trump administration revoked temporary deportation protections for Afghan people, citing “an improved security situation” and a “stabilising economy” in Afghanistan, which is ruled by the Taliban

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/73/15/06/ED_PYR_1473156_20250513041239.mp4
Lifestyle

US admits White South African refugees amid controversy

Maravi Post Reporter

The Trump administration on Monday welcomed a small group of white South Africans as refugees, saying they face discrimination and violence at home, which the country’s government strongly denies. The decision to admit the 49 people also has raised questions from refugee advocates about why the group should be admitted when the Trump administration has suspended efforts to resettle people who are fleeing war and persecution and have gone through years of vetting before coming to the United States.

The group from South Africa, including children holding small American flags, arrived at Dulles International Airport outside Washington on a private charter plane and was greeted by Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau and Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar. “I want you all to know that you are really welcome here and that we respect what you have had to deal with these last few years,” Landau told the group in a hangar at the airport, many of them holding U.S. flags.

“We respect the long tradition of your people and what you have accomplished over the years.” President Donald Trump told reporters earlier Monday that he’s admitting them as refugees because of the “genocide that’s taking place.” He said that in post-apartheid South Africa, white farmers are “being killed” and he plans to address the issue with South African leadership next week.

That characterization is strongly denied by the South African government and has been disputed by experts in the country and even an Afrikaner group. South Africa’s government says the U.S. allegations that the white minority Afrikaners are being persecuted are “completely false,” the result of misinformation and an inaccurate view of its country.

It cited the fact that Afrikaners are among the richest and most successful people in the country and said they are among “the most economically privileged.” Afrikaners make up South Africa’s largest white group and were the leaders of the apartheid government, which brutally enforced racial segregation for nearly 50 years before ending it in 1994. While South Africa has been largely successful in reconciling its many races after apartheid ended, tensions between some Black political parties and some Afrikaner groups have remained. Trump has promoted the allegation that white farmers in South Africa are being killed on a large scale because of their race as far back as 2018 during his first term.

Conservative commentators have promoted the allegation about a genocide against white farmers in South Africa, and South African-born Trump ally Elon Musk has posted on social media that some politicians in the country are “actively promoting white genocide.”

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/74/47/05/ED_PYR_1474475_20250513042708.mp4
Lifestyle

49 white South Africans head to US under Trump refugee offer

Maravi Post Reporter

A group of 49 white South Africans departed their homeland Sunday for the United States on a private charter plane, having been offered refugee status by the Trump administration under a new program announced in February.

The group, which included families and small children, was due to arrive at Dulles International Airport outside Washington on Monday morning local time, according to Collen Msibi, a spokesperson for South Africa’s transport ministry.

They are the first Afrikaners — a white minority group in South Africa — to be relocated after U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Feb. 7, accusing South Africa’s Black-led government of racial discrimination against them and announcing a program to offer them relocation to America.

The South African government said it is “completely false” that Afrikaners are being persecuted.

The Trump administration has fast-tracked its applications while pausing other refugee programs, halting arrivals from Afghanistan, Iraq, most of sub-Saharan Africa and other countries in a move being challenged in court.

Refugee groups have questioned why the white South Africans are being prioritised ahead of people from countries wracked by war and natural disasters. Vetting for refugee status in the U.S. often takes years.

The Trump administration says the South African government is pursuing racist, anti-white policies through affirmative action laws and a new land expropriation law it says targets Afrikaners’ land. The government says those claims are based on misinformation and there is no racism against Afrikaners and no land has been expropriated, although the contentious law has been passed and is the focus of criticism in South Africa.

South Africa also denies U.S. claims that Afrikaners are being targeted in racially motivated attacks in some rural communities. Instead, the South African government said Afrikaners, who are the descendants of Dutch and French colonial settlers, are “amongst the most economically privileged” in the country.

The first Afrikaner refugees were traveling on a flight operated by the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based charter company Omni Air International, Msibi said. They would fly to Dakar, Senegal and stop there to refuel before heading for Dulles.

They departed from OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, where they were accompanied by police officers and airport officials when they checked in. Msibi said they would have to be vetted by police to ensure there were no criminal cases or outstanding warrants against them before being allowed to leave.

The South African government said there was no justification for them being relocated but said it wouldn’t stop them and respected their freedom of choice.

They are expected to be greeted at Dulles by a U.S. government delegation, including the deputy secretary of state and officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, whose refugee office has organised their resettlement.

The flight will be the first in a “much larger-scale relocation effort,” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told reporters on Friday. Miller said that what was happening to Afrikaners in South Africa “fits the textbook definition of why the refugee program was created.”

“This is persecution based on a protected characteristic — in this case, race. This is race-based persecution,” he said.

The HHS Office for Refugee Resettlement was ready to offer them support, including with housing, furniture and other household items, and expenses like groceries, clothing, diapers and more, a document obtained by The Associated Press said. The document said the relocation of Afrikaners was “a stated priority of the Administration.”

There are around 2.7 million Afrikaners among South Africa’s population of 62 million, which is more than 80% Black. They are only one part of the country’s white minority.

Many in South Africa are puzzled by claims that Afrikaners are persecuted and meet the requirements to be relocated as refugees.

They are part of South Africa’s everyday multi-racial life, with many successful business leaders and some serving in government as Cabinet ministers and deputy ministers. Their language is widely spoken and recognised as an official language, and churches and other institutions reflecting Afrikaner culture hold prominence in almost every city and town.

The Trump administration has criticised South Africa on several fronts. Trump’s February executive order cut all U.S. funding to South Africa over what it said was its anti-white stance and also accused it of pursuing an anti-American foreign policy. It cited South Africa’s ties with Iran and its move to lodge a genocide case against U.S. ally Israel over the war in Gaza as examples of it taking “aggressive positions towards the United States.”

Source: Africanews

Lifestyle

Sudan Cuts Ties with UAE Over RSF Support

Maravi Post Reporter

Sudan has severed diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) amid growing tensions over the ongoing civil war. Sudan’s Defence Minister, Yassin Ibrahim, accused the UAE of backing the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) through what he called a “proxy” role, following a series of attacks by the RSF on Port Sudan. The UAE has denied these allegations, which include claims of military, financial, and political support for the RSF.

The conflict, now in its second year, has led to thousands of deaths and displaced millions, resulting in a severe humanitarian crisis. In response to Sudan’s accusations, Sudanese diplomatic missions in the UAE will be shut, and the Sudanese ambassador will be recalled. Recent drone strikes on key infrastructure in Port Sudan, previously seen as a safe haven, have intensified the situation.

The RSF has not commented on the attacks, but the Sudanese army holds them responsible. Despite these developments, the International Court of Justice recently dismissed Sudan’s case accusing the UAE of complicity in genocide, citing a legal technicality.

The UAE’s deputy assistant minister for political affairs called for urgent international action to end the war and deliver humanitarian aid to those in need, emphasizing the need to focus on peace and relief for the Sudanese people. Both the Sudanese army and the RSF face accusations of war crimes.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/18/89/05/ED_PYR_1418895_20250507045520.mp4
Lifestyle

Demonstrators angry at ICJ’s decision to dismiss Sudan’s genocide case against UAE

Maravi Post Reporter

A handful of pro-Sudan demonstrators protested outside the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on Monday.

They were angry about a decision made by the top United Nations court to throw out Sudan’s genocide case against the United Arab Emirates.

The ICJ found that it does not have jurisdiction in the case, although it noted deep concern about the spirally violence in Sudan.

While both countries are signatories to the 1948 Genocide Convention, the UAE has a “reservation” to the part of the treaty that allow countries to sue others at the ICJ over disputes.

Sudanese protester Mustafa Dar expressed his disappointment and said they are only asking for justice.

“Justice will never stop in one place, we go further and we will always be looking for our justice. So, what is happening today, this is not the end of the game,” he said.

Khartoum had accused the UAE of complicity in genocide in the ongoing civil war in Sudan through its alleged support for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

It said the Emiratis were arming and funding the rebel paramilitary in its deadly war against the Sudanese army.

As many as 150,000 people are believed to have died in the over two years of conflict between the two sides, and more than 14 million others have been displaced.

The UAE, which has denied the accusations, applauded the  court’s decision.

Following the hearing, a senior UAE foreign affairs official, Reem Ketait, told reporters that her country “bears no responsibility for the conflict in Sudan”.

“On the contrary, the atrocities committed by the warring parties are well documented,” she said.

Both the RSF and Sudan’s military have been accused of human rights abuses. Meanwhile the civil war shows no sign of easing.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/06/07/05/ED_PYR_1406075_20250505162928.mp4