South African white man granted refugee status

TORONTO — A white man from South Africa has been given refugee status in Canada after claiming persecution, his lawyer said, angering many in his home country where race remains a highly sensitive issue.

A Canadian immigration board panel issued its ruling late last week in the case involving Brandon Carl Huntley, according to his lawyer, Russell Kaplan.

Kaplan said Tuesday it's likely the first time a white South African has been granted refugee status in Canada claiming persecution from black South Africans.

The Immigration and Refugee Board refused to comment on the case or to release the decision. Board spokesman Stephane Malepart said he is barred from commenting on any individual case by privacy provisions.

Malepart said the board is an independent tribunal that operates at arms' length from the Canadian government.

Huntley argued that whites are targeted by black criminals in South Africa and that the government does nothing to protect them. He claimed he was attacked seven times during attempted robberies and muggings.

Kaplan, a South African native who moved to Canada 20 years, said tribunal panel chair William Davis ruled that Huntley would stand out like a "sore thumb" due to his color in any part of South Africa and that Kaplan's fears of persecution are justified based on the evidence he submitted.

In his its written decision, Davis said "I find that the claimant was a victim because of his race (white South African) rather than a victim of criminality."

It also said that Huntley "has presented clear and convincing proof of the state's inability or unwillingness to protect him."

The news of the Canadian panel's ruling made headlines and was a topic for call-in radio programs in South Africa Tuesday.

Ronnie Mamoepa, spokesman for South Africa's immigration ministry, said Huntley's "claims were aimed at tarnishing the good name of black and white South Africans ... and were racially motivated."

He also said that "it would have been courteous for the Canadian government to allow the South African government to respond to these claims."

The governing African National Congress said the government is working hard to curb crime.

ANC spokesman Brian Sokutu added, "We find the claim by Huntley to have been attacked seven times by Africans due his skin color without any police intervention sensational and alarming."

He added: "Canada's reasoning for granting Huntley a refugee status can only serve to perpetuate racism."

In an editorial Tuesday, the Johannesburg daily The Times said: "News that Canada has granted a white South African refugee status because his life is in danger at the hands of his black countrymen is shocking and saddening. It says more about Canadian perceptions than South African reality."

But AfriForum, a white lobby, has asked Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the South African immigration minister, to look into the cause of white emigration and to take seriously the claim by Huntley's lawyer that he "presented a clear and convincing proof of the state's inability or unwillingness to protect him."

Huntley made a refugee claim in 2008 after staying in Canada illegally for a year with a work permit.

Kaplan, the attorney, said his sister, Laura Kaplan, testified about being threatened by armed black South Africans.

___

Associated Press writer Nkemeleng Nkosi contributed to this story from Johannesburg.

Comments

[Johann123]

08:14 AM on 09/07/2009

People with negative comments have no idea how South Africa truly is! I live in a suppose to be safe suburb area in Johannesbu­rg but I hear atleast a few gunshots a week in the distance. Hear from close friends how his/her family member been rapped and left to die. I'm a very safe person and try not to go out at night as I've been hijacked and sexually abused by two africans. The ANC always blame everything on racism and white people. While they in the current economic crisis go and buy more than six million dollars of cars etc etc. Come and live in South Africa and you will understand Brandon Huntley's story! Australia here I come.....

[noudidnt]

03:36 PM on 09/02/2009

Wh ite Afrikkkane­rs are upset and scared because theyre not precious anymore.


Wah wah wah

[mahhala]

07:10 PM on 09/02/2009

He probably is not an afrikaner, so your posting is moot.

[Arthur Boyer]

09:44 PM on 09/03/2009

This from a South African MP who understand­s the situation better than noudidnt.

“For the ANC to label the decision of Canada to grant the South African, Brandon Huntley, asylum status, as racist, is in itself racist. Part of Huntley’s applicatio­n was that he had been called a ‘white dog’ and a ‘boer’ by criminals during an attack on him. These name-calli­ng terminolog­ies are nothing unusual and even black police officers have called white victims of crime ‘white dogs’. The FF Plus has in this regard already laid two complaints with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) against police officers. A result is still being awaited from the HRC. If police members make such remarks, it is not surprising when criminals do the same. The previous Minister of Safety and Security, Mr. Charles Nqakula, even in Parliament told me to stop complainin­g about crime or else I have to leave the country. It is then no wonder that people leave the country. The ANC should rather do everything in their power to fight black on white racism, rather than want to place the blame on someone else or a country such as Canada,” Mr. Pieter Groenewald (MP), chief spokespers­on on Police for the FF Plus says.

“The granting of asylum status to Huntley should be seen as a call for help by victims of crime in South Africa. It places a great responsibi­lity on the ANC government to change it or else there will be more such cases,” Groenewald said.

[regularmess]

01:46 PM on 09/02/2009

Anything's possible.

try this story on for size: http://the­happenings­tory.blogs­pot.com/

[gormahia]

12:42 PM on 09/02/2009

Canada had better be very careful about what they wish. Granting asylum because one was repeatedly targeted by criminals may look justified on the surface but could also open a floodgate of refugees from other countries. Whites in South Africa still enjoy very high standards of living (thanks to centuries of apartheid) compared to blacks and unless Brandon is highly skilled, he will find Canada a very cold place to be. I have met few white South Africans in US who find it very hard to enjoy the same standards of living that they enjoyed in South Africa (as whites). A white South African may on the surface have an advantage in terms of opportunit­ies in the west but without any marketable skills life can be pretty hard and demoralizi­ng. For example working /middle class whites in Africa generally enjoy a high standard of living that enable them to have disposable income to employ one or even two housemaids – that is a luxury that is only confined to very high income segments in the West.

[ArborialBiped]

12:16 PM on 09/02/2009

Why must every individual specific case become a Rorshach Test for every grandiose rac1alist theory and struggle? The knee-jerk resentment reflexes are going off like crazy on this thread, despite nobody here having actual detailed knowledge of the particular case.

When one group is in power, members of other groups can sometimes be oppressed. Period. Human nature. Duh. Ask a Chinese person in Vietnam or a Vietnamese person in China.

[AmandaBC]

11:19 PM on 09/02/2009

Very sensible post. I'd fan you for that, but I already did it some time ago... :)

[noudidnt]

12:12 PM on 09/02/2009

So is this c lown playing the "ra ce card" and wallowing in "victimhoo­d", wh y te people?

[peterg76]

12:02 PM on 09/02/2009

Canada gets a lot of things right, but the Canadian Immigratio­n and Refugee Board "is an independen­t tribunal that operates at arms' length from" reality.

[Spencaa]

12:07 PM on 09/02/2009

Like you know anything?

[peterg76]

02:13 PM on 09/02/2009

Yes.

[Bond007]

12:00 PM on 09/02/2009

Shamefully­, it won't be long at all. South Africa is going down. Mandela was a great President, but the corrupt leaders that followed him and the ones coming in the future are so corrupt,, it's unbelievab­le. It's always the corrupt that run the country for years,,, and drive it to the ground. Watch and see, South Africa will be the new Zimbabwe in less than 15 years. Stick around and see for yourself.
In the general stereotype­, black leaders in black countries somehow seem to screw up,, they somehow do. Am not biased, just calling it as I see. Sorry if anyone is offended, but it just seems so.

[jessicadevyn]

12:12 PM on 09/02/2009

Well South Africa was pretty screwed up during Apartheid. It's funny how when issues such as crime and harassment start to affect white people things are all of a sudden "screwed up" while if they only affect black people no one bats an eyelash.

[mahhala]

07:16 PM on 09/02/2009

This is drivel on par with birthers et al. South Africa has never been so prosperous as under black majority/A­NC. The crime he alleges drove him to seek asylum is a direct consequenc­e of years of apartheid and the slowness in prosperity creating enough jobs for everyone ... South Africa will survive and become even richer 'cause of education, infrastruc­ture, etc. and knowing how to accommodat­e all peoples. Agree there are many despots in Africa .. they are all in power thanks to US or EU interferen­ce.

[johnfrum]

09:27 PM on 09/02/2009

mahaha
Go there and see for yourself. Obviously you haven't.

[Darthwave]

11:46 AM on 09/02/2009

I hope that other blacks who are being victimized by other blacks in South Africa can also get refugee status also. Un-freakin­g-believab­le.

[jessicadevyn]

12:13 PM on 09/02/2009

Exactly. The main victims of crime in SA are black people. This is ridiculous­.

[maplepeg]

11:42 AM on 09/02/2009

If a person lives in a neighbourh­ood with rampant crime, and the government fails to address such crime, that person is a victim of persecutio­n and entitled to refugee status? Oh, hold on, only if you can point to some racial aspect. If you are a black person or an aboriginal person living in a community with rampant crime problem, but you cannot show that the crime problem is related to your skin colour, too bad for you. You are not being persecuted­. You just live in a bad neighbourh­ood. Is there anyone in the world other than a white person who could claim to be a victim of persecutio­n on the basis of government failure to control crime AND have the resources to get to a third country AND have the resources to file a refugee claim AND succeed with that argument? When persons of colour are successful in making persecutio­n claims relating to high crime rates, then and only then will this decision make sense.

[CherrySpring]

12:44 PM on 09/02/2009

Good post.

[ibivi]

12:50 PM on 09/02/2009

Sorry but I have to disagree. Whites are being attacked by blacks because of socio-econ­omic reasons. This is part of the long-stand­ing historical disparity of a suppressed majority. The issues of the haves and the have-nots is still racial. Look at other countries in Africa (Kenya, Zimbabwe) where whites are being forced out. The same thing is happening in South Africa. If you are being attacked on a regular basis because you are white what are you supposed to do? Wait until you are killed? Many years ago Uganda expelled South Asians because they dominated the business sector. These attacks are the same thing and it will take many years before economic reforms right this situation.

[Sigona]

09:23 PM on 09/02/2009

@ibivi the only time white people fled of Kenya was in the 1950's AND that was during the fight for independen­ce. they left out of fear. In the History of Kenya, i believe there has been no instance where there is an official stand to "force white people out'.

[dressey]

11:24 AM on 09/02/2009

I am a South African and have been living in HOng Kong for 10 years. I was held up at gun point on 4 separate occassions­. South Africa is a beautiful place,but, the government has absolutely no handle on the crime. For any people planning to go to the World Cup- good luck !!

[howeverfaraway]

11:23 AM on 09/02/2009

I wonder if they would grant me medical asylum....­.

[TXfemmom]

11:17 AM on 09/02/2009

My son worked with several South African engineers and all of them said they were targeted and that calling the police in South Africa, if you are white is useless. All of them spoke of how beautiful South Africa is and how they would like to live there, but most are planning to live and work outside the country because it is unsafe for them. Common criminalit­y has risen at an astronomic­al rate there, as well, but according to them it is much more targeted at whites.

[GNT]

11:16 AM on 09/02/2009

Congratula­tions to him! I too am South African and have had to leave SA due to crime and fear for my life, my husbands and daughters. I luckily married a man who has another countries passport.

So many of my family and friends have left, some have returned, but I never ever enter South Africa feeling safe or confident!

The statistics for a child born last year, was 60% chance of rape by the 19th birthday - I had a daughter a year ago, there is no way I would ever give my child those odds.

It doesn't matter if he is white or black, the media is turning this into a racial thing. Everyone is at risk, I agree with Asichii! It doesn't matter who is the criminal, you have to look at why they are doing it.

Although, I must admit, I do think it's reverse racism now and the sooner the government tackles crime and equality the better but we all know that its not high on their agenda.

Its a very sad day when 'A White is granted asylum' makes headlines.­..why not "A South African is granted asylum" .....

[jessicadevyn]

12:15 PM on 09/02/2009

I wonder if it had been a black SA who was escaping crime if he or she would have been granted asylum.

[Grooverider]

02:12 PM on 09/02/2009

Why not? All South Africans are victims of racism and violence. Maybe you have to have lived in South Africa to realize this (as clearly a few here have). That dunce hat fits you well.

[Sean 6399]

11:14 AM on 09/02/2009

Anyone care to bet on how long it will take for South Africa to become another Zimbabwe?

[auegg]

11:39 AM on 09/02/2009

Exactly my thoughts.

[Darthwave]

11:55 AM on 09/02/2009

And for $100,000 question which imperialis­tic government­s made them both that way by implementi­ng decades of white only rule.

[Bond007]

11:59 AM on 09/02/2009

It won't be long at all. South Africa is going down. Mandela was a great President, but the corrupt leaders that followed him and the ones coming in the future are so corrupt,, it's unbelievab­le. It's always the corrupt that run the country for years,,, and drive it to the ground. Watch and see, South Africa will be the new Zimbabwe in less than 15 years. Stick around and see for yourself.
In the general stereotype­, black leaders in black countries somehow seem to screw up,, they somehow do. Am not biased, just calling it as I see. Sorry if anyone is offended, but it just seems so.