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Rights groups petition Mauritian PM over HIV+ student deportation

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Civil society groups from southern Africa and Mauritius have petitioned Mauritian Prime Minister Aneerood Jugnauth, to stop the deportation of a Cameroonian student on the basis of her HIV-positive status

Civil society groups from southern Africa and Mauritius have petitioned Mauritian Prime Minister Aneerood Jugnauth, to stop the deportation of a Cameroonian student on the basis of her HIV-positive status.

By Phyllis Mbanje

The document, signed by Aids and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA), Prévention Information Lutte contre le Sida (PILS) and several other human rights groups, read in part: “The determination that the student be deported on the basis that her HIV status is a contagious infection, as provided for in the Immigration Act, is discriminatory. We urge policymakers in Mauritius to review and amend the Immigration Act.”

Mauritius’ Immigration Act prohibits persons afflicted with any infectious disease from entering the country. According to ARASA spokesperson Sirka Amaambo, the female student was found to be HIV-positive when she was being tested as part of her study permit application.

“After testing positive for HIV, the student received a notification letter from the Passport and Immigration Office informing her that the application for her study visa had been denied and that she would be deported from the country,” Amaambo said. International human rights law guarantees the rights to equal protection before the law and freedom from discrimination on any ground. The rights to equality and non-discrimination in the context of HIV have in addition been interpreted as imposing an obligation on states to review and repeal any laws, policies and practices to exclude treatment based on arbitrary HIV-related measures.

“The deportation of this student on the basis of her HIV status is not only contrary to fundamental international human rights, but will undoubtedly fuel the already high rates of stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV in Mauritius,” said Amaambo.

This is not the first time that the small island country located in the Indian Ocean has been caught in a storm over its discriminatory HIV laws.

In 2008, an HIV-positive non-citizen who already had a child with a Mauritian citizen, was not allowed to get married and stay in Mauritius under the existing law.