Disadvantaged face more prejudice and abuse

ASYLUM seekers in Scotland living with HIV are enduring multiple levels of discrimination and missing out on vital supportavailabletootherpeople diagnosed with the disease.

The "living hell" which HIV-positive African refugees can face in this country will be highlighted in a documentary on BBC Radio Scotland's The Investigation programme tomorrow.

After fleeing from their own countries to escape persecution, they often have to deal with both discrimination against refugees and the stigma surrounding HIV, which may have been contracted through rape or torture.

Asylum seekers interviewed in the programmedescribethehorrifying experiences they have endured in their own countries. One woman says she was forcedtofleeZimbabweafterher husband and family were killed. A man tells how his wife was brutally beaten just weeks after having surgery for breast cancer and subsequently died.

But they also describe the social isolation and poverty they have encountered in Scotland. One said: "There are mother and toddler groups everywhere, but I can't go because my name is HIV.

"You end up not attending the group because most likely I might find somebody who has been told that I am HIV positive and they start pointing again."

Martha Baillie, manager of Waverley Care Solas, a support centre for those diagnosed with HIV, told the Sunday Heraldthatasylumseekersfaced "layers" of stigma and discrimination.

"There is still massive stigma about HIV,"shesaid."Peoplewhofeel excludedfrommainstreamScottish communities because they are asylum seekers, can then feel unable to share information about their HIV status."

UK residents who are HIV positive canaccessadditionalbenefits,for example,tohelpthemfollowa nutritiousdiet.However,asylum seekers - who cannot claim mainstream benefits and are not allowed to work - struggle to find money for basics such as food and transport.

Catherine Murphy, policy officer at HIV charity the Terrence Higgins Trust Scotland, said that living in poverty made it far more difficult for people with HIV to manage their condition.

"Health outcomes for people with HIV are usually much better when people have access to a healthy diet and fresh food and can look after their own health in a much more general way," she said. "If you have no access to work or are living on a very, very low income, that becomes increasingly difficult."

Major concerns have also been raised about the cases where HIV-positive asylum seekers are effectively handed a "deathsentence"bybeingdeported back to countries where antiretroviral medication is not available.

A test case has recently been taken to the European court of human rights by a 33-year-old woman asylum seeker withAids,whoclaimsitwouldbe inhumane to send her home. In Britain she has been told she could expect to live for up to 10 years, while in Uganda it could be less than a year.

The Home Office claims in the BBC Radio programme that while it is under noobligationtoconsiderhealthin deportation decisions, HIV status "may be considered" among the reasons for a person to stay in the UK.

ButdeputyfirstministerNicola Sturgeon is among those interviewed who criticise the policy of the Westminster government, which she said at times lacks"thehallmarkofdignityand humanity".

Speaking in the documentary, Stephen Lewis, the former UN special envoy for HIV/Aids in Africa, says Britain should be ashamed of the "mean-spirited" way it treats asylum seekers living with HIV.

Hesaid:"Theydon'tdeserve the abuse, the vilification, the rejection for a sophisticated Western democracy with all of the apparatus of an industrial civilisation, it's not just a shame, it's an outrage."

HIV Is My Name will be broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland tomorrow at 9am