South Africa playing with fire

The U.S. State Department on Thursday condemned the recent detention of U.S. officials in South Africa, who it said were providing support to Afrikaners.

“Furthermore, the public release of our U.S. officials’ passport information is an unacceptable form of harassment,” the State Department said in a statement.

“We call on the Government of South Africa to take immediate action to bring this situation under control and hold those responsible accountable,” it said.

South Africa on Wednesday said its authorities had arrested and would deport seven Kenyan nationals illegally working on processing refugee applications for the U.S. government.

Two U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services refugee officers were also briefly detained and then released during the operation on Tuesday, a USCIS official and a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

USCIS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A State Department spokesperson called the raid “unacceptable”.

President Donald Trump’s administration aims to bring thousands of white South Africans to the United States under a resettlement programme it started this year, on the basis of claims that they are victims of racial persecution. South Africa’s government strongly denies this.

Case processing in South Africa is being done by RSC Africa, a Kenya-based refugee support centre operated by Church World Service, according to the U.S. embassy’s website.

The Kenyans had entered South Africa on tourist visas and taken up work illegally at a processing centre, despite earlier visa applications for Kenyan nationals to perform this work having been denied, South Africa’s Ministry of Home Affairs stated in a press release. It said no U.S. officials were arrested.

“We are seeking immediate clarification from the South African government and expect full cooperation and accountability,” said U.S. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott in a statement sent to Reuters.

“We’ll have more to say once all the facts are confirmed, but the Trump Administration will always stand up for U.S. interests, U.S. personnel, and the rule of law. Interfering in our refugee operations is unacceptable,” he said.

The incident is likely to worsen already bad relations between Washington and Pretoria. During his second term, Trump has repeatedly made false claims about South Africa’s treatment of its white minority and used this as a justification for cutting aid and excluding South Africa from G20 meetings.

South Africa’s government said it had initiated formal diplomatic engagements with both the United States and Kenya to resolve the matter.

“The presence of foreign officials apparently coordinating with undocumented workers naturally raises serious questions about intent and diplomatic protocol,” the South African statement said.

A spokesperson for Kenya’s foreign ministry said she was not aware of the incident but would look into it.