I don’t know enough about what’s going on in Africa to have an informed opinion - but it’s probably of note that Trump’s apparent view that there’s a South African genocide against White people is in line with a seemingly fairly evidence-free argument being made a few years back by prominent members of the political far right.

The conspiracy theory of “white genocide” has been a staple of the racist far right for decades. It has taken many forms, but all of them imagine that there is a plot to either replace, remove or simply liquidate white populations.

South Africa and Zimbabwe in particular have exerted a fascination on the racist far right because in the mind of white nationalists, they show what happens to a white minority after they lose control of countries they once ruled.

Whatever their plight turns out to be, White Afrikaners certainly do seem to be the only refugees that Trump cares about helping.

Good on him for doing so if this does turn out to be a real issue of course. But it’s extremely safe to say that even in the worst case they’d be only a tiny fraction of the folk across the globe that would benefit from a safe refuge; most of whom are less likely to be white.

Trump suspended the US refugee settlement programme in January, leaving more than 100,000 people approved for refugee resettlement stranded. Then, in February, he signed an executive order directing officials to grant refugee status to Afrikaners, whose leaders ruled during apartheid while violently repressing the Black majority.

If skin colour is indeed a factor, then it’s sad but true that Trump is far from the only person of relevance to exercise such discrimination. The reaction of Europe to refugees rightfully fleeing the dangers of their country provides many salient examples according to Liverpool Hope University.

The flexibility demonstrated here by European countries in welcoming refugees and making their residence easier, is noticeably in marked contrast to the treatment bestowed on Syrian and North African refugees, who were fleeing previous violent conflicts even more severe than the Russian-Ukrainian war.

…

Reports on the refugee crisis (reliefweb.int) have also suggested discriminatory behaviour on the part of Europeans to refugees of black or brown skin colour. Students and Ukrainians of colour from African and Arabic countries interviewed on TV have recounted the hardships they had to undergo at the Polish border, where they had to wait for hours without any assistance, and how some of them, particularly those with dark skin, were denied entry for no apparent reason and were stranded at the border.