JOHANNESBURG, Dec 19 – South Africa has accused the US of using Kenyan nationals without work permits at a facility processing applications by white South Africans for refugee status.
Seven Kenyans were arrested after intelligence reports revealed that people “had recently entered South Africa on tourist visas and had illegally taken up work” at the centre, said a statement from South Africa’s Department Of Home Affairs.
The US responded by accusing South Africa of “interference” in its efforts to admit white Afrikaners as refugees.
The US is offering asylum status to Afrikaners as it says the community is facing persecution. South Africa’s government has rejected the claims.
The US has reduced its yearly intake of refugees from around the world from 125,000 to 7,500, but says it will prioritise Afrikaners, who are mostly descendants of Dutch and French settlers.
This is one of the issues that have caused a sharp deterioration in relations between South Africa and the Trump administration.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the US State Department said it condemned “in the strongest terms the South African government’s recent detention of US officials performing their duties to provide humanitarian support to Afrikaners”.
It also accused South Africa of releasing the passport information of its officials, which it called “an unacceptable form of harassment” and an attempt to intimidate them.
The BBC has asked South Africa for comment on this allegation but in its statement on Wednesday, it said that no US officials were arrested and the operation was not at a diplomatic site.
The processing of applications by white South Africans is being done by RSC Africa, according to the US embassy in South Africa. RSC Africa is a Kenyan-based refugee support centre operated by Church World Service (CWS).
The BBC has asked RSC Africa for comment.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that Afrikaners are being subjected to a “genocide” in South Africa, even though there is no evidence that white farmers are more likely to be the victims of crime than their black counterparts.
He offered Afrikaners refugee status earlier this year after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a law allowing the government to seize land without compensation in rare instances.
A first group of about 50 people flew to the US on a chartered plane – it is not clear how many others have moved, or are in the process of applying.
