First white South Africans fly to US under Trump refugee plan

Planes at the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. 

Photo credit: Shutterstock

The first 49 white South Africans deemed victims of racial discrimination and granted refugee status under an offer by US President Donald Trump were flying to America on Monday in a move deepening friction between the two nations.

The US government has blocked mostly non-white refugee admissions from the rest of the world but is prioritising Afrikaners, the descendants of mostly Dutch settlers.