A top Eritrean AIDS activist is among some 150 delegates of last month's international AIDS conference in Toronto who stayed behind and filed refugee claims in a bid to remain in Canada, immigration officials confirm. Most of the claimants have the deadly disease and include a large group of women from hardest-hit South Africa and citizens of El Salvador, Eritrea, Uganda and Zimbabwe.Unless I'm mistaken, prospective immigrants who apply through legal channels (and stand in line for years, in some cases) can be turned down if they test positive for something like tuberculosis.
So what exactly happens if the IRB (Immigration & Refugee Board) green-lights 150 third world, very likely non-English speaking people who all have an incurable, communicable disease? I hesitate to even speculate about the long-term consequences but, as sure as death & taxes, I do know two things. The first is that this action will end up costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars for healthcare alone. The second is that, if these folks settle down in your neighbourhood, you better hope they don't start dating.
Francisco Rico-Martinez, of the FCJ Refugee Centre in Toronto, said three of the claimants -- Tesfamichael, a man from El Salvador and a woman from Zimbabwe -- were referred to his "gender-friendly" hostel.(I may regret asking this later, but what the hell is a "gender friendly" hostel? Please don't tell me we sent a couple of drag queens with AIDS out into the "substance abusing/omni-sexual/destitute/homeless" community. If so, I sure hope the guy in that picture is wearing that t-shirt 24/7, for the rest of his life.)
"Both of the men have AIDS," Rico-Martinez said yesterday. "They face persecution and discrimination at home."
The bottom line is this; if the IRB accepts these people solely on the basis that they have AIDS, there will be a worldwide deluge of HIV & AIDS infected people hitting Canadian soil. Our overburdened healthcare system is already on the ropes. If we set this precedent, how do you shut out anyone with anything?
One last thought. If someone contracts AIDS from one of these "refugees", can they turn around and sue the government for, objectively, causing their wrongful death?
It's a mess.
UPDATE: 4 Sep 2006 - Breaking down the numbers... so much for St. Nelson's socialist paradise.
More than 130 HIV-positive South African women are seeking asylum in Canada after attending the Toronto Aids conference last month, apparently claiming that they cannot get adequate treatment at home.Kate got the ball rolling.
