The initial group of white South Africans given refugee status under a program launched by US President Donald Trump departed from Johannesburg on Sunday.
A reporter from the news agency Reuters reported observing a line of white citizens with airport carts filled with luggage waiting to have their passports checked before entering the departure area.
According to Collen Msibi, a spokesperson for the South African Transport Ministry, the US-funded charter flight carried 49 passengers.
"The landing permit application stated that it's the Afrikaners relocating to the USA as refugees," Msibi noted.
Afrikaners are a white ethnic group primarily descended from Dutch, German, and French settlers. Afrikaner leaders governed South Africa during the harsh apartheid regime of racial segregation, which often involved the violent suppression of Black South Africans.
Msibi mentioned that the plane was set to arrive at Dulles Airport near Washington, D.C., and then continue on to Texas.
US broadcaster NPR previously reported that 12 states had agreed to accept the Afrikaners, some of whom have relatives in the United States.
Why has Trump offered asylum to white South Africans?
Trump, alongside his South African-born adviser and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, has expressed concerns about what they assert is the persecution of white South Africans by the country's Black majority.
This claim persists despite Afrikaners being among the most privileged groups in South Africa since the end of apartheid three decades ago.
White South Africans comprise around 7% of the nation's population; however, they still control approximately 78% of private farmland in South Africa and possess about 20 times the wealth of Black South Africans.
In early February, Trump enacted an executive order that provides for the resettlement of "Afrikaner refugees" facing "government-sponsored race-based discrimination, including racially discriminatory property confiscation."
This refers to a new South African land expropriation law, which Trump believes will result in the seizure of white-owned farms.
South Africa's updated legislation aims to address the disparities established under the previous apartheid framework.
What is the scale of Afrikaner migration to the US?
In March, the US State Department reported that it had received nearly 8,000 inquiries from white South Africans seeking resettlement.
The Trump administration indicated that as many as 1,000 Afrikaners could be allowed entry into the United States this year.
According to Transport Ministry spokesperson Msibi, his department has not received any additional applications for further resettlement flights.
The expedited resettlement process available to Afrikaners sharply contrasts with the typical refugee process, which can take many years.
The Trump administration has also effectively halted nearly all other refugee admissions following an executive order signed by Trump as one of his first actions in office.
