An immigration expert has warned Afrikaners not to jump to President Donald Trump’s offer for them to move to America on refugee status as life might be more difficult in a country where citizens have demonstrated hostility towards foreigners.
Visa Immigration SA managing director Ross Viljoen was reacting to Trump’s executive order opening a floodgate for Afrikaners, aggrieved by their government passing transformation policies, to migrate to America.
Trump’s controversial executive order 'on Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa’ says that ‘the US Department of State is coordinating with the Department of Homeland Security to promote and prioritise humanitarian relief, including consideration of eligibility for admission and resettlement to the United States for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination’.
The recently passed Land Expropriation Act and Basic Education Laws Amendment Act angered Afrikaners who alleged that these would strip them of their farming land and also destroy their school system and language, and deprive them of employment opportunities.
Viljoen said it is possible that Afrikaners would be subjected to the same treatment suffered by minorities living in the US.
“For the white Afrikaners it is not going to be a very good to move there looking for greener pastures,” he said.
He said moving to a foreign country on a refugee status had more risks than benefits and that ‘Trump could not be trusted as he did not make friends worldwide’.
Ross’s company, which operates internationally, has monitored South Africans living abroad.
He said after Trump was elected president replacing Joe Biden, he saw “a lot of USA nationals looking to come to South Africa”.
He said it would be more beneficial to South Africa if Americans were to migrate to the country because “these people (Americans) bring a lot of funds into the country.”
“We had a serious spike of USA nationals wanting to come to South Africa, which says something,” he said.
The South African Chamber of Commerce in the USA (SACCUSA) revealed this week that it was inundated with almost 20,000 emails from Afrikaners seeking information about their families moving to America.
Viljoen said Afrikaners who are tempted to take Trump’s offer might end up not emigrating because this might not benefit them.
“Remember in 1994 when South Africa became a liberated country, almost all the Afrikaners were saying ‘no, I am leaving South Africa, I am going to Australia, to New Zealand’.
“But did they ever [leave]? No, because there was no benefit,” he said.
He said Trump had not indicated how exactly Afrikaners would benefit by moving America.
“If there is no benefit, they are not just going to get up and go, there has to be something there for them as they cannot just go there for refugee and asylum (status).
“They will have to fight to get jobs,” said Viljoen.
He said only poor Afrikaners who live in places such as Munsieville informal settlements in Krugersdorp, Gauteng, who were reported to be subjected to job scarcity due to race-based laws that prevent them from employment opportunities, might be justified to take the offer.
“It would be good for them.
“If they are poor and living in the squatter camps, yes they would definitely want to move, but the people that are established and have big farms would be reluctant to give up all of this,” he said.
“People (Americans) are going to consider the facts that they (Afrikaners) are going to take jobs from Americans.
“I don’t think there is going to be a warm welcoming,” he said.
However, SACCUSA’s Neil Diamond, who currently lives in America to promote South African businesses, was adamant that there would be no job scarcity for Afrikaners.
He said he had experienced “welcoming Americans” and business, education and employment opportunities.
“Looking at the economic statistics, the USA unemployment is at 4%, they don’t have problems when it comes to the retail and hospitality industry.
“Already a lot of South Africans come over here to work on farms, approximately 15 000 work on farms between March and October.
“Those who are earning nothing (in South Africa), if they are willing to work they are going to build a life for themselves, but if they are not willing to work they are going to suffer the same economic environment that they are experiencing in South Africa as America is not an environment to survive in if you are not willing to put in lots of hours,” he said.
He said he had referred thousands of inquiries from people willing to take Trump’s offer to the USA embassy in Pretoria.
Responding to a long list of questions from this reporter, US embassy official Samidha Redkar repeated Trump’s executive order verbatim.