[procaare] HIV asylum seekers suffer 'living hell' in Scotland

["Sunday Herald & BBC Scotland" <procaare@healthnet.org>]

HIV asylum seekers suffer 'living hell'
By Judith Duffy, Health Correspondent
Sunday Herald: September 30 2007
***************

ASYLUM SEEKERS in Scotland living with HIV are enduring multiple 
levels of discrimination and missing out on vital 
supportavailabletootherpeople diagnosed with the disease.

The "living hell" which HIV-positive African refugees can face in 
this country will be highlighted in a documentary on BBC Radio 
Scotland's The Investigation programme tomorrow.

[ * Mod note: Below, you can find the article from BBC Scotland 
that accompanies to the investigation report. To listen to the 
documentary, go to 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/radioscotland/programmes/morningextrawithgaryrobertson/extra/ 
Please note that the audio report will only be available for a few 
days. * ]

After fleeing from their own countries to escape persecution, they 
often have to deal with both discrimination against refugees and 
the stigma surrounding HIV, which may have been contracted through 
rape or torture.

Asylum seekers interviewed in the programme describe the horrifying 
experiences they have endured in their own countries. One woman 
says she was forced to flee Zimbabwe after her husband and family 
were killed. A man tells how his wife was brutally beaten just 
weeks after having surgery for breast cancer and subsequently died.
But they also describe the social isolation and poverty they have 
encountered in Scotland. One said: "There are mother and toddler 
groups everywhere, but I can't go because my name is HIV.

"You end up not attending the group because most likely I might 
find somebody who has been told that I am HIV positive and they 
start pointing again."

Martha Baillie, manager of Waverley Care Solas, a support centre 
for those diagnosed with HIV, told the Sunday 
Heraldthatasylumseekersfaced "layers" of stigma and discrimination.

"There is still massive stigma about HIV,"shesaid."People who feel 
excluded from mainstream Scottish communities because they are 
asylum seekers, can then feel unable to share information about 
their HIV status."

UK residents who are HIV positive can access additional benefits, 
for example, to help them follow a nutritiousdiet.However,asylum 
seekers - who cannot claim mainstream benefits and are not allowed 
to work - struggle to find money for basics such as food and 
transport.

Catherine Murphy, policy officer at HIV charity the Terrence 
Higgins Trust Scotland, said that living in poverty made it far 
more difficult for people with HIV to manage their condition.

"Health outcomes for people with HIV are usually much better when 
people have access to a healthy diet and fresh food and can look 
after their own health in a much more general way," she said. "If 
you have no access to work or are living on a very, very low 
income, that becomes increasingly difficult."

Major concerns have also been raised about the cases where 
HIV-positive asylum seekers are effectively handed a "death 
sentence" by being deported back to countries where antiretroviral 
medication is not available.

A test case has recently been taken to the European court of human 
rights by a 33-year-old woman asylum seeker with Aids, who claims 
it would be inhumane to send her home. In Britain she has been told 
she could expect to live for up to 10 years, while in Uganda it 
could be less than a year.

The Home Office claims in the BBC Radio programme that while it is 
under no obligation to consider health in deportation decisions, 
HIV status "may be considered" among the reasons for a person to 
stay in the UK.
But deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon is among those 
interviewed who criticise the policy of the Westminster government, 
which she said at times lacks"the hallmark of dignity and 
humanity".

Speaking in the documentary, Stephen Lewis, the former UN special 
envoy for HIV/Aids in Africa, says Britain should be ashamed of the 
"mean-spirited" way it treats asylum seekers living with HIV.

Hesaid: " They don't deserve the abuse, the vilification, the 
rejection for a sophisticated Western democracy with all of the 
apparatus of an industrial civilisation, it's not just a shame, 
it's an outrage."

HIV Is My Name will be broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland tomorrow at 
9am

Online: 
http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.1724231.0.hiv_asylum_seekers_suffer_living_hell.php

- - - - -

HIV Is My Name - The Investigation - Monday 1 October 2007
BBC Radio Scotland: Oct 1 2007
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/radioscotland/programmes/morningextrawithgaryrobertson/extra/
************

The Investigation programme 'HIV Is My Name' looks at the 
disturbing trait of 'multiple discrimination' faced by Scottish 
asylum seekers with HIV who, despite surviving horrific life 
experiences, claim they're receiving inadequate understanding in 
Scottish society. They knew it would be difficult adjusting, but 
have been shocked by the behaviour of professionals and public 
alike.

Thanks to recent tabloid headlines such as The Daily Mail's AIDS 
Scum Bankrupt Britain, strong prejudice and stigma against 
so-called 'medical tourists' has never been higher, despite the 
fact most sufferers have been raped in refugee camps and came to 
the U.K. escaping persecution, terror or politically-motivated 
murder.

They find settling in Scotland hard enough, but finding out they've 
contracted HIV leads to shock, depression and suicidal tendencies. 
By speaking to arrivals from Rwanda, Kenya and Zimbabwe, journalist 
Pennie Taylor will reveal:

Many Africans are too frightened to be HIV-tested, because the 
stigma is so great they can't tell members of their own community, 
never mind Scottish health/social workers. They suffer shock, 
denial and suicidal tendencies, along with shame, humiliation and 
loneliness.

The constant threat of deportation means that following a course of 
HIV treatment can be very difficult. If you can't stick to it, as 
you're being moved from detention centre to detention centre, the 
symptoms of AIDS or cancer quickly return.

Asylum seekers with HIV don't want sympathy. They've skills to 
offer and want to learn new ones; most want to return to their 
country as soon as it's stable again. They're depressed and 
frustrated at being told to collect benefits and stay home. Some 
have had their lives put on hold for more than six years.

Some described their Glasgow GPs as ill-informed and occasionally 
racist.

Pharmacists are no better. One Burundian was told in a loud voice, 
"We don't keep AIDS medicine here." The woman in question said she 
felt humiliated and went home in tears.

(All case study names are changed)

We spoke to Michelle, a Rwandan women whose soldier-husband 
disappeared She grew up in a Ugandan refugee camp. Here husband was 
accused of spying. She was taken to prison, tortured and repeatedly 
raped. She talked about being called 'nigger' in the high flats 
where she resides. She has also experienced insitutionalised racism 
by the DHSS. However, she now has a baby who is not HIV+. This is a 
little-known fact. If the mother's condition is known, less than 1% 
of newborns will carry the virus. However, she says she is 
suffering from serious stigma within Scotland's African community.

Stephanie, 34, a South African was infected with HIV by her 
promiscuous husband. She fled to the U.K after he accused her of 
being promiscuous and threatened to kill her. She suffers constant 
racist abuse from Sighthill youths, who bang her door all night and 
shout at her in the street. She never puts lights on. She's 
terrified.

Sam, 49, is from Zimbabwe. A businessman who was suspected of being 
an opposition party member, his shop was attacked and destroyed. 
After losing everything, he was stunned to find he was HIV+, 
contracted from being beaten with a bloody stick on his open 
wounds. His wife had died just before he fled, being beaten by 
soldiers despite recovering from a breast cancer operation. He's 
lived in Glasgow for seven years, but The Home Office won't allow 
him to work. He doesn't want free hand-outs and says his dignity 
has been taken away from him.
Andy Winter, Consultant in HIV Medicine, spoke about the high 
levels of success among HIV sufferers - 87% now lead completely 
normal lives. He talked about the irreparable damage caused by 
surprise deportations, which cause people living with HIV to miss 
crucial drug courses. Once back in Africa, no access to retroviral 
HIV drugs leads to blindness and madness, before full-blown AIDS. 
It is a slow death.

Steven Lewis, the former UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS, spoke from 
his office in Toronto, Canada. He told us about major gender 
inequality in Africa, whereby 'women blame themselves, but men 
blame their partners'. He'll also criticise the recent G8 Summit 
for not promising specific anti-viral drug aid to around 28 million 
sub-Saharan Africans with HIV.

The new National Scottish Sex Health Strategy clearly states that 
not enough is being done for these Africans, but Public Health 
Director Syed Ahmed promises that more is being done.

For more information, or if you think you need to speak to someone 
in confidence, contact the Waverley Care centre at 
www.waverleycare.org or call 0131 226 2206.