They departed OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg yesterday. The group reportedly includes 49 Afrikaners, comprising families, older people and some younger couples.

The chartered aircraft is expected to arrive at Dulles International Airport, outside Washington DC. 

A press event is expected to be hosted by senior officials from the Departments of State and Homeland Security to welcome this first group of Afrikaners, two departments tasked in President Donald Trump’s February 7 Executive Order with prioritizing their admission and resettlement.

The expedited processing of the group comes at a time when desperate refugees from other countries have been blocked from the US, with immigration a hot button issue for the current administration.

A statement from the Department of International Relations and Co-operation on Friday called it “most regrettable that the resettlement of South Africans to the US under the guise of being refugees is entirely politically motivated and designed to question SA’s constitutional democracy.”

In a statement, the US State Department says the white Afrikaner refugees are victims of unjust racial discrimination.

--SABC--