A group of 49 white South Africans departed their homeland Sunday for the United States on a private charter plane having been offered refugee status by the Trump administration under a new program announced in February.

The first white South Africans granted refugee status under a programme initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump boarded a plane to leave from the country's main international airport in Johannesburg on Sunday.

After suspending the U.S. refugee program, President Trump is making an exception for white South Africans, known as Africaners