US focuses on persecution claims as white South Africans seek resettlement

Katia Beeden, life coach and campaigner for white South Africans who want to apply for U.S. refugee status, speaks at her residence in Fish Hoek, Cape Town, South Africa April 24, 2025. REUTERS/Esa Alexander

JOHANNESBURG/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials have interviewed white South Africans seeking refugee status about their troubles with land disputes, crime and perceived racism, while refugees from other countries are being deported or barred from the United States.

Some of the South African applicants have taken part in a first round of interviews in Pretoria, three of them told Reuters, describing positive encounters with U.S. officials who seemed well disposed towards them and their accounts of persecution.