‘I didn’t come here for fun’ – Afrikaner defends refugee status in US
Written by Emilia Ndandi on May 16, 2025
Last week, 46-year-old Charl Kleinhaus was living on his family farm in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. With its scenic beauty, wildlife and deep canyons, it’s known as “the place where the sun rises”.
His new home – for now – is a budget hotel near an American highway.
He and dozens of other white South Africans were moved to the US under President Donald Trump’s controversial policy to protect them from the discrimination he alleges they are facing – an accusation that South Africa rejects.
Mr Kleinhaus defends the US president, telling the BBC he left his homeland after receiving death threats in WhatsApp messages.
“I had to leave a five-bedroom house, which I will lose now,” Mr Kleinhaus tells the BBC, adding that he also left behind his car, his dogs and even his mother. “I didn’t come here for fun,” he adds.
The contrast in homes couldn’t be more stark. But for Mr Kleinhaus, his situation in Buffalo, New York, is already a better one. “My children are safe,” says Mr Kleinhaus, whose wife died in a road accident in 2006.
The status of white South African farmers has long been a rallying cry on the right and far-right of American politics.
Trump and his close ally, South Africa-born billionaire Elon Musk, have even argued that there has been a “genocide” of white farmers in South Africa – a claim that has been widely discredited.
In February, Trump signed an executive order granting refugee status to Afrikaners, such as Mr Kleinhaus, who he said were being persecuted.
Mr Kleinhaus is one of a group of 59 who arrived on Tuesday at Dulles airport, near Washington DC, after Trump’s administration fast-tracked their applications.
He admits he was surprised at how quickly he got to the US, and that he is grateful to Trump. “I felt finally somebody in this world is seeing what’s going on,” he says.
As he and his family arrived with others at the airport they were greeted with red, white and blue balloons. He describes the pomp and ceremony as “overwhelming”.
