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Mobilisation
against the deportation of a foreign, HIV positive, transsexual prostitute
living in France
J.-P. Koch1, C. Andreo2, A. Toullier2, F. Excoffon3, A.-L. Motte1, H. Richaud2, F. Riedel3, M. Suzan1, J.-C. Mattei1
1AIDES, Marseille, France, 2AIDES, Pantin Cedex, France, 3AIDES, Nice, France
Issues: Since 1998,
following a large scale campaign by HIV/aids NGOs, France created a special
residence permit for foreign PLWHIV who do not have access to antiretroviral
treatment (ART ) in their own country. This permit is still in force.
In
September 2009, in
the south of France,
a representative of state in charge of foreigners' rights wanted to deny the
right to this residence permit to a Peruvian, HIV positive transsexual because
he claimed that she represented a danger to public health.
Description: A centre catering
for prostitutes in Nice (France)
contacted AIDES, the largest French HIV/Aids CBO to decide on a strategy.
We decided
to:
- address a formal letter to the
state representative to claim our indignation and to demand the residence
permit for the person.
- go with the person to the
official appointment to show our support, as we received no reply to the
letter
- contact politicians working in
the health and immigration ministries to request their help in contacting
the doctors who could testify to the person's state of health.
- publish a press release to
publicly criticise the actions and words of the representative of state,
with the support of organisations working for foreigners' rights, human
rights and patients rights.
Lessons learned: The result of
this collective effort was that the person was granted her residence permit.
This action allowed the local actors to be empowered and to be involved in
lobbying and advocacy, to work better together, to consolidate the balance of
power between organisations and the authorities. The media coverage allowed a
greater visibility of the situation.
Next steps: This power
struggle must continue as the case revealed the intention of the authorities to
get rid of a specific group of foreigners despite the law. Many similar
situations may occur in the future.
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