A group of 59 white South Africans has arrived in the US, where they are to be granted refugee status.

President Donald Trump has said the refugee applications for the country’s Afrikaner minority had been expedited as they were victims of “racial discrimination”.

The South African government said the group were not suffering any such persecution that would merit refugee status.

The Trump administration has halted all other refugee admissions, including for applicants from warzones. Human Rights Watch described the move as a cruel racial twist, saying that thousands of people – many black and Afghan refugees – had been denied refuge in the US.