Friday, March 16, 2018

White South African Farmers 'Need Help from a Civilised Country'

Australia's Home Affairs Minister is investigating how to bring white South African farmers to Australia on humanitarian grounds.

White farmers facing violence in South Africa "deserve special attention" from Australia, Peter Dutton said.

He said he had watched television footage and read articles that convinced him the farmers needed help, and had ordered his department to investigate how to bring the farmers to Australia.

He had "hope" some of the farmers could be settled in Australia, declaring: "We have the potential to help some of these people that are being persecuted."

Violence on South African farms is a racially charged political issue.

Afriforum, a rights group that mainly represents the views of the white Afrikaner minority, says white farmers are murdered at four times the rate of other citizens, but these figures cannot be independently verified and have been challenged.

Mr Dutton said he wanted to explore whether the farmers could access visas or humanitarian programs.

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