By Daanyaal Matthews
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) has clarified that the 49 Afrikaners who recently left for the United States do not meet the definition of refugees under domestic or international law. The department also dismissed U.S. claims of genocide in South Africa as unfounded.
Speaking on VOC Newsbeat, Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, explained that the group does not qualify as refugees because they are not being persecuted in South Africa. He pointed to the historical and current social standing of Afrikaners in the country.
“So for one to argue this idea that Afrikaners are being persecuted—one would have to show which country in the world persecutes people and then allows the very same people to have street names after them, have people of that ethnic group or language group occupying very important positions in government,” stated Phiri.
He added that DIRCO did not prevent the group from emigrating, as any citizen is free to leave the country and settle elsewhere. However, Phiri emphasized that from DIRCO’s standpoint, the narrative of “white genocide” being promoted by the American administration is false.
“We will continue to state that in South Africa there is no white genocide. In fact, no nationality is being persecuted,” stressed Phiri.
Listen to the full interview here:
