Can anyone be a refugee? - Vivienne Vermaak

Key topics:Trump's refugee plan enables fast-track US entry for some South Africans'The 59' airlift sparks viral media backlash, and public confusionThousands now face delays as pilot project leaves most applicants waiting.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..By Vivienne Vermaak*.The news of 49 Afrikaners being chartered to the US has not only exploded in angry reactions in the media worldwide, but also caused hilarious ones. In a post that went viral one South African commentator, skilled at maths and humour, invoked Charlize Theron’s famous 2022 statement that there are only ‘44 Afrikaners’ left. It then stands to reason, said the man, that 5 of the 49 must be faking it; they could be Indians or coloureds trying their luck. He then painted the picture of a Mr Kandasamy pretending to be a Kannemeyer. He was found out in the middle of the flight when he drank chai out of a flask instead of ordering a brandy and coke. (The real number of people on the plane was 59, by the way, so most South African journalists got it wrong.)His comedy inadvertently spoke of a surprising truth of Trump’s refugee programme – you don’t have to be a white Afrikaans farmer to make it onto an aeroplane. Extended family members of mine are applying on that basis; they are neither Afrikaans nor farmers, but their forms have been sent and meet the criteria for application. The man at the embassy (black) explained that the programme is pretty open. The guidelines are: you must be of South African nationality, of Afrikaner ethnicity OR a member of a racial minority, and must be able to articulate a past experience of persecution or a fear of future persecution. US intelligence analyst and prominent commentator, Colonel Chris Wyatt, said it was a ‘generous’ offer and unprecedented; Wyatt has become a leading figure for information and guidance on the refugee project. To anyone who has ever wanted to emigrate to the US this seems a golden opportunity to expedite the process and save money in the process. My applicant family speak some Afrikaans, a fact they sometimes resent as it was forced upon them at school. Yet it is coming in handy, and there is enough Afrikaans in the blood and ancestry to suggest ethnicity. Their experience in the television and performance industries is that job opportunities are getting scarcer and scarcer for white people, especially as they get older. My family said that when they explained to the man at the embassy how persecuted they felt, it seemed that he understood exactly what they were talking about. The speed and efficiency with which ‘The 59' was evacuated via private charter is extraordinary. Under normal circumstances, the process could take years. It certainly came as a surprise to many, especially the other 8,000 people who are said to have submitted queries in February and who have not even been invited for a single interview yet, my family included. In a recent post, dated 12 May 2025, the US Embassy and Consulates posted a Statement of Interest form, which potential applicants should complete, even if they had already filled in other forms. This means it is back to square one for most applicants. The post further tells applicants that, given the volume of interest, individuals may not receive a response for an extended period.While the current wave of refugees is receiving a remarkable amount of media coverage, they are not the first South Africans to enter the US as refugees. According to Stats SA approximately 4,250 South Africans have managed to leave the country as refugees, a number that has ramped up significantly since 2014. Over 2,700 South Africans entered as Asylum seekers to the US in 2021 and 2022. It is not clear what the ethnicity of the applicants was or on what grounds the applications were submitted. The white population in South Africa as a subgroup has been steadily declining for many years in a separate trend, with ‘The 59’ being a manifestation and flashpoint, exacerbated by Trump’s executive order.A Facebook friend reports being contacted recently by an emigration official who assisted with an emigration application 9 years ago, before he decided to explore business opportunities in South Africa - it was an unsolicited call. The agent informed him they were expediting certain applications and his acceptance was “virtually guaranteed with your credentials." The Trump administration is courting "South Africans of extraordinary ability of a certain demographic", said the official. My friend declined this time around, with some patriotic fanfare thrown for good measure, but one has to ask whether a decade ago he might have made a different decision. Either way, good luck to him in his endeavours and to all applicants.Trump’s refugee programme undoubtedly makes potential emigration quicker, easier, and cheaper. If they are throwing chartered planes into the mix, Mr Kandasamy would have been well within the scope of the rules of the project if he ate koeksisters instead of samoosas for the flight duration and spoke a bit of the taal. My family are standing by to be airlifted out of the Armageddon of Edenvale and dropped off at the homes of siblings and extended family in the US. They are already close to O. R. Tambo International Airport, so they have a head start. They plan to ask the US government for a contribution towards rent.The expectation has now been created in some quarters that America will save any white person who asks for it. There will be airborne transport, important people in uniforms will welcome you at the airport, and there will be lots of cameras and support. You will be a hero, ushered into the land of milk and honey and hailed a survivor. If it sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. Following the new directive of the US Embassy and Consulates in South Africa, Wyatt explained, in quite urgent tones on his YouTube channel - as if everybody should have known this from the start - that the flight of ‘The 59’ was what he calls a pilot project. ‘A proof of concept.’ The next phase will be about deciding how to proceed with Trump's instruction, who to pick and how the relocation process might work on a grander scale; it is all very new to everyone. In America, Thea van Straten, one of the first refugees, is being housed in a modest lodging with a stocked fridge, while relocation agents check in regularly and decide the way forward. A former cattle farmer, Van Straten took early advantage of Trump's offer after enduring four farm attacks in the past two years. Her farm is currently under the care of others who will sell it on her behalf. She is alone in a strange country, starting again without the support of immediate family and loved ones.Meanwhile, back in South Africa, my guesstimate is that ± 8,000 people have filled in the new form, annoyed that they had to do it again, because the nice people at the embassy said everything was easy and free. There would certainly be some regret about the nasty TikTok comments they left to detractors, suggesting they would soon be out of this sh*thole while the rest of us have to stay behind.The USA remains the land of the free and the home of the brave. But entry is not quite as free for everyone as for 'The 59.' The 8,000 will have to be brave, in their own country, a little longer - perhaps forever..*Vivienne Vermaak is an award-winning investigative journalist, writer and public speaker. Vivienne is a Senior Associate of The Free Market Foundation.

Can anyone be a refugee? - Vivienne Vermaak

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