HIV petition gets international support

3.45.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 14th Apr 2008

Sarah Ludford's petition to end the US HIV ban gained international support today as Sophie In't Veld, a Dutch MEP from the D66 party, joined with Sarah in international condemnation of the ban.

Sophie In't Veld said:

"The European Commission has stated that there are no objective grounds for this ban. As the custodian of the Treaties, the Commission should protect the rights of all European citizens alike. It cannot pick and chose the grounds for discrimination that are more "comfortable". The Barroso Commission can show it stands by its solemn pledge to the European Parliament in 2004 to be the champion of Fundamental Rights.

"In response to queries of the Dutch liberal party D66 the government has stated it will push the issue in the Council, in the context of the ongoing negotiations on visa waiver with the US."

Sarah Ludford added:

"The greater the number of people who support the call to end this unfair discrimination, the less the problem can be ignored by European policy-makers. The persistence of the travel ban just feeds prejudice and ignorance.

"EU equalities laws will be meaningless if the Commission and Council fail to insist that the US treat all EU citizens fairly. They can only redeem their 15-year tolerance of this gross discrimination by taking a firm line in the new negotiations."

You can sign the petition here:

http://www.sarahludfordmep.org.uk/pages/endHIVdiscrimination.html