Donald Trump’s administration has threatened “severe consequences” against South Africa should President Cyril Ramaphosa fail to produce persons responsible for releasing the passport details of U.S. officials briefly detained in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

In a statement on Thursday, the Department of State under Secretary Marco Rubio said the U.S. will not tolerate any form of harassment against its citizens working to process the refugee status of Afrikaners at a centre in Johannesburg.

“The U.S. condemns in the strongest terms the South African government’s recent detention of U.S. officials performing their duties to provide humanitarian support to Afrikaners,” reads a statement by the spokesperson of the Department of State on Thursday. “The public release of our U.S. officials’ passport information is an unacceptable form of harassment.”

South African officials stormed the centre on Tuesday and arrested seven Kenyans whom the government said were illegally working with tourist visas. In the process, CNN reported that two American officials were “briefly detained.” The Kenyans will be deported to their nation and banned for five years from South Africa.

Mr Trump’s administration said the doxxing of American officials puts them in “harm’s way.”

The Department of State urged South Africans to hold the culprits for doxxing the U.S. officials to account or face consequences

“Failure by the South African Government to hold those responsible accountable will result in severe consequences. We call on the Government of South Africa to take immediate action to bring this situation under control and hold those responsible accountable,” the statement said.

Diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Washington have strained since Mr Trump alleged persecution against Afrikaners and that the government was confiscating their lands. Mr Ramaphosa has strongly denied those accusations.

Mr Trump opened up an immigration pathway to absorb Afrikaners as refugees.into the U.S. and prioritised scholarships to fund their education.