South Africa Rages as Canada Grants White Asylum

Charges of racism after one-man board approves refugee
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 2, 2009 7:52 AM CDT
South Africa Rages as Canada Grants White Asylum
Jacob Zuma, the South African president and leader of the African National Congress. The government and the ANC both slammed Canada's decision to grant a white South African asylum.   (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

A white South African man won asylum in Canada after a one-man immigration board ruled that his "fear of persecution by African South Africans" was justified, reports the Times of London. Brandon Huntley fled to Canada in April and told authorities he was attacked seven times by blacks calling him a "white dog" and "settler." The ruling has infuriated the South African government, which calls it racist.

South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world, but blacks and other races are just as much victims as whites. Canada's contention that the South African government is unable or unwilling to protect Huntley—and its strange claim that a white man would "stick out like a sore thumb in any part of the country"—led to sharp denunciations by the ruling African National Congress. "Canada's reasoning can only serve to perpetuate racism," a party official said.
(More Canada stories.)

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