US officials considering ad campaign to urge South African Afrikaners to emigrate

Key Points:

• The US government plans to spend approximately $335,000 on a media campaign in South Africa to understand why fewer white Afrikaners are applying for refugee status in the US, following a directive from Donald Trump prioritizing Afrikaner resettlement.
• The campaign will involve focus groups and surveys across multiple South African regions, targeting different age, income, and urban/rural groups, culminating in a six-month digital outreach primarily in Afrikaans to engage Afrikaners interested in migration.
• The initiative stems from a 2025 executive order by Trump citing alleged government-sponsored racial discrimination and “white genocide” against Afrikaners, claims rejected by the South African government and widely dismissed by experts.
• Despite historically low refugee admissions under Trump, the US has admitted increased numbers of Afrikaners recently, with the refugee cap raised from 7,500 to 17,500 in 2026, mainly benefiting Afrikaners, while overall US refugee admissions remain below previous years.
• The US-South Africa relationship is strained due to disputes over race and land policies, with the US cutting aid, restricting visas, and excluding South Africa from the 2026 G20 summit, while also funding right-wing causes supporting Afrikaner rights through significant grants from the State Department’s Human Rights and Democracy Fund.