The last time a white Saffa – Brandon Huntley – sought asylum in Canada over fear of violence from blacks it sparked a diplomatic row between Ottawa and Pretoria — and international outrage.
The Nels left South Africa in 2010 with their daughter, reported Canada’s National Post, and applied for refugee status in Canada. They told the country’s Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) that they were becoming increasingly afraid because, since they left South Africa, Genocide Watch, an organisation that monitors genocide around the world, had upgraded the risk for whites in South Africa.
Mr. Nel told the IRB he felt personally threatened because “Boer” is a term for a South African white person. Mrs. Nel said she feared being raped.
Last year the IRB rejected their claim causing them to go to the Canadian Federal Court who overturned the board’s ruling. They may now continue their asylum claim.
In Huntley’s case in 2009 an international uproar followed the IRB’s granting of asylum. Ottawa called the decision “perverse,” while the South African government deemed it “racist.” Politicians, newspaper editorials and talk radio in Saffaland rebuked the decision.
Canada was warned – by SA – that the decision could damage relations between the two countries. The case was sent back to the IRB which overturned the decision on review.
