US-SA relations | Who qualifies to be a refugee?
JOHANNESBURG - US President Donald Trump's administration has said it will formulate a plan to resettle the Afrikaner community.
Trump offered Afrikaners refugee status amid claims that the South African government is infringing on their rights.
But, how does one get refugee status?
WATCH: Discussion | Many Afrikaners reject Trump's refugee status offer
Public Interest Practice director Jacob van Garderen discussed this with eNCA's Gareth Edwards.
Van Garderen explained, "Most countries including the United States and South Africa base their asylum laws or laws that deal with "refugee status" on the United Nations Refugee Convention."
"In this refugee convention, the key requirements and definitions of who would qualify for refugee status are set out."
"In simple terms, in order to qualify for refugee status an applicant must prove that they have a well-founded fear of persecution in the country where they live."
"In other words that they are suffering serious harm or persecution or oppression and that persecution must be based on one of a number of protected grounds that includes: persecution on the basis of race, on religion, on nationality, political opinion, and then finally membership of a particular social group."
"And it is this last category that I assume that the Trump administration had in mind because to qualify your membership of a particular social group you have to show that there are some innate characteristics to that social group that also makes you vulnerable to be persecuted and targeted for persecution."