The Afrikaners, or descendants of Dutch colonisers in South Africa, are set to arrive in the US this month

At least 54 white South Africans have been granted refugee status in the US and will be arriving this month, NPR reported on Thursday.

The news comes almost four months after the US suspended the country’s refugee resettlement programme, leaving 12,000 vulnerable people in limbo who had been conditionally approved for resettlement and had flights booked before 20 January, as well as almost 90,000 others who had been approved for resettlement.

A court order this week directed the government to start processing the 12,000 people who had booked their flights before 20 January. The Afrikaan South Africans, or Afrikaners, are white descendants of largely Dutch people who colonised the country and are expected to arrive on 12 May, NPR reports.