EU should challenge US on visa rights for travellers with HIV

11.09.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 13th Mar 2008

On the eve of an EU-US ministerial meeting on justice and security tomorrow which will major on transatlantic visa matters, Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP, Liberal Democrat European Justice and Human Rights Spokeswoman, has demanded that the EU side should include in the negotiations the issue of US refusal, dating from 1993, to extend its Visa Waiver programme to people with HIV. The US maintains that they are a threat to public health but the European Commission has affirmed that there is no objective reason for this stance.

Simultaneously, EU prime ministers will be meeting for their spring summit. Although this is mainly about economic matters, they are expected to have a huge internal row about the success of US divide-and-rule tactics over visa-free travel for the new EU states who are keen to do bilateral deals.

Sarah Ludford said:

"The EU should fight, in unison, not only for citizens from all 27 EU countries to get visa-free travel for US trips, but for that to happen on a non-discriminatory basis. Our leaders should not tolerate that their HIV-positive citizens are bracketed with criminals or treated like modern day lepers. To put HIV on a par with infectious diseases like tuberculosis in any case betrays medical ignorance.

"We have wonderful human rights clauses in the EU treaties which commit EU institutions and governments to strive for the respect of equality and fairness. But while they will attempt to ensure that no-one suffers discrimination on grounds of nationality, they have proved so far reluctant to do the same for people with HIV.

"I am launching with MEP colleagues a petition to the European Parliament to press for inclusion in the European Commission negotiating mandate with the US of the objective of full Visa Waiver for people with HIV."