HIV/AIDS asylum case divides Canadian immigration experts

Discrimination and stigma faced by Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS could be grounds for obtaining refugee status in Canada, a federal judge has ruled in the deportation case of an HIV-positive Nigerian women and her child. Immigration experts are divided on whether the case will make it easier for HIV-positive Africans to make successful asylum claims, but David Matas, a leading Canadian immigration lawyer, said the case could be significant. A Canadian newspaper, The Edmonton Journal, quoted Matas as saying, "The bottom line is that, in principle, if you've got AIDS and you're going to be ostracised, discriminated against and stigmatised because of it, you can be a refugee." Although the UN High Commission on Refugees recognised a decade ago that HIV-positive people could be eligible for asylum in limited cases, there have rarely been successful claims in Canada or elsewhere.