Afrikaners Want To Come To The U.S

South Africa‘s parliament has passed a motion to seize land from white farmers without paying them compensation. Passed by an overwhelming majority of 241 votes to 83 votes against, the proposal to amend Section 25 of the constitution would allow the government to seize land without any financial recompense. Championed by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party,  Julius Malema told the country’s parliament, “We must ensure that we restore the dignity of our people without compensating the criminals who stole our land.” South Africa’s new president, Cyril Ramaphosa, said he would speed up the transfer of land from white to black owners after his inauguration. Similar land redistributions were held in Zimbabwe in 1980. Critics have compared the move to the disastrous redistribution of land in neighboring Zimbabwe, which was often accompanied by violence and left farms neglected. Zimbabwe paid a high price for their land redistribution. Whereas Zimbabwe was the world’s sixth-largest producer of tobacco in 2001, in 2005 it produced less than a third the amount produced in 2000. Zimbabwe was once so rich in agricultural produce that it was dubbed the “bread basket” of Southern Africa, while it is now struggling to feed its own population. About 45 per cent of the population is now considered malnourished. Crops for export such as tobacco, coffee and tea have suffered the most under the land reform. The main everyday food for Zimbabweans, maize, has been reduced by 31%. However critics also fail to point out, the United States government put the Zimbabwean government on a credit freeze in 2001 through the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, which collapsed the trade surplus in 2002. Where there was a trade surplus of $322 million in 2001, in 2002 the credit freeze led to a trade deficit of $18 million, to grow rapidly in subsequent years.

Now white African farmers own about 73 percent of the country’s profitable farming land. In light of the governments ruling, white South African farmers are taking action in a surprising way. More than 10,500 people have reportedly signed a petition calling for President Donald Trump to allow white South African landowners, who have their land stripped as a result of the country’s expropriation vote, to immigrate to the United States. The petition calls on Trump to “take the steps necessary to initiate an emergency immigration plan allowing white Boers to come to the United States.” Boer is the term used to describe South Africans of Dutch, German or Huguenot descent, and who are also commonly referred to as Afrikaners. A similar petition, calling on European Union President Jean-Claude Juncker, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May to allow white South Africans into EU countries, has gained nearly 17,000 signatures. It is unclear where people who are signing the petitions on Change.org are from. Signatories cite fears of a “white genocide” as their reason for signing, while others appeared to express sentiments aligned with white supremacy.