South African authorities said Wednesday they had arrested seven Kenyan nationals and begun deportation proceedings after determining the group was illegally working on refugee application processing tied to a United States resettlement program.
The arrests come amid growing diplomatic tension over a US initiative that seeks to resettle thousands of white South Africans, a plan Pretoria has rejected as being based on false claims of racial persecution.
According to South Africa’s Ministry of Home Affairs, the seven Kenyan citizens entered the country on tourist visas and later took up employment at a refugee processing center without authorization. The ministry said previous visa applications that would have allowed Kenyan nationals to carry out that work had already been denied.
“The seven were arrested during an operation on Tuesday and issued with deportation orders,” the ministry said in a statement.
The US Embassy website states that refugee processing in South Africa is being handled by Amerikaners, a group led by white South Africans, along with RSC Africa, a Kenya based refugee support center operated by Church World Service.
CNN reported that two US government employees were briefly detained during the operation before being released. South African officials disputed that account, saying no US officials were arrested.
“The presence of foreign officials apparently coordinating with undocumented workers naturally raises serious questions about intent and diplomatic protocol,” the Home Affairs statement said.
The department added that South Africa’s foreign ministry has begun formal diplomatic engagements with both the United States and Kenya to resolve the issue.
The incident is expected to deepen already strained relations between Washington and Pretoria. During his second term, President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused South Africa of mistreating its white minority, claims the South African government has consistently denied. Those allegations have been cited by the US administration in decisions to cut aid and exclude South Africa from G20 engagements.
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The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CNN quoted a State Department spokesperson as saying that “interfering in our refugee operations is unacceptable” and that Washington was seeking clarification from South African authorities.
Kenya’s foreign ministry said it was not immediately aware of the arrests but would look into the matter.