The South African government has directly challenged a United States refugee programme that offers asylum to Afrikaners, with Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola describing the policy as "race-based" in an interview with France 24.

The dispute centres on an executive action by US President Donald Trump that created a dedicated refugee pathway for Afrikaners — white South Africans, largely descendants of Dutch, French and German settlers — while the broader US refugee admissions programme remains suspended.

In the interview, titled "Tête à tête" and published by France24, Lamola rejected the premise behind the policy. He argued that the offer of asylum rests on a claim of persecution targeting a specific racial group, a claim his government does not accept.

The minister's use of the phrase "race-based policy" signals Pretoria's position that Washington has effectively singled out one ethnic group for preferential humanitarian treatment. South Africa maintains that no group in the country faces state-sponsored persecution that would meet the threshold for refugee status under international law.

The US move has added strain to an already tense bilateral relationship. Trump has repeatedly criticised South Africa's land reform policies, and the refugee offer followed those statements. The Afrikaner pathway allows applicants to seek resettlement in the United States outside the standard refugee process available to other nationals.

For immigration observers, the case is unusual. Refugee admissions normally rest on individual assessments of persecution, not on blanket eligibility linked to ethnicity or national origin. Critics of the programme, including the South African government, say granting a whole demographic group preferential access inverts that principle.

Lamola's remarks are the sharpest official condemnation yet from Pretoria. The Foreign Minister framed the US policy as politically motivated rather than grounded in verified conditions inside South Africa.

The exchange matters for prospective applicants as well as for diplomacy. Afrikaners who accept the US offer will enter as refugees under a programme their own government disputes, a dynamic that could complicate travel documentation, family visits and future consular matters.

South Africa has not announced any reciprocal measures in response to the programme. The government's position, as stated by Lamola, is that the policy misrepresents the country's realities and that Washington should engage through normal diplomatic channels rather than unilateral humanitarian designations.

Readers seeking the current terms of the Afrikaner refugee pathway — eligibility criteria, application steps and deadlines — should consult official US Citizenship and Immigration Services guidance, as programme details rest with US authorities. The full Lamola interview is available on the France 24 website.

Passport File will continue to track the diplomatic and procedural fallout from this policy dispute as it develops.