"The administration of President Donald Trump plans to allow only 7,500 refugees into the United States in 2026, according to a notice published on Thursday in the US Federal Registry. The figure represents a dramatic reduction after his predecessor Joe Biden's administration had previously admitted 125,000 people from all over the world annually. "The admissions numbers shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa," Trump's order said, along with "other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands.""
"After taking office in January, Trump essentially halted refugee arrivals, only making an exception for white South Africans. Trump has previously claimed that Afrikaners face persecution in South Africa, based on their race. The South African government has denied the claim. The refugee program has been around since 1980, and the authority to set the cap on admissions rests with the president. During his first term, Trump lowered the cap each year until it reached 15,000 in the last year of his presidency."
""By privileging Afrikaners while continuing to ban thousands of refugees who have already been vetted and approved, the administration is once again politicizing a humanitarian program," said Sharif Aly, president of IRAP, a global legal aid and advocacy organization. The NGO Human Rights First said the decision was a "new low point" in US foreign policy. Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, president & CEO of Global Refuge, warned that concentrating "the vast majority of admissions" on any one group "undermines the program's purpose as well as its credibility.""
The Trump administration set the refugee admissions cap at 7,500 for 2026, a steep reduction from the previous 125,000 annual cap. The order directs that admissions "shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa" and "other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands," without naming other countries. After taking office, refugee arrivals were largely halted with a specific exception for white South Africans. South Africa denies claims that Afrikaners face race-based persecution. The refugee program dates to 1980 and the president controls the cap. Rights groups say the change politicizes and undermines the program's purpose and credibility.
Read at www.dw.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]