Hungarian conservatives would like to introduce a new visa legislation to exclude people living with HIV.
Hungarian conservatives would like to introduce a new visa legislation to exclude people living with HIV.
The Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF), a conservative party represented in the Parliament with a small fraction, urges the government to require the disclosure of HIV status from non-EU citizens applying for temporary residence visa. Recent immigration laws also require the disclosure of all health conditions which „can be dangerous to public health”, but they do not explicitly mention HIV as one of these conditions. András Pettkó, a conservative MP said this intervention is necessary to protect publich health and stop the spread of HIV. The initiative is probably fueled by recent media news about the increase of newly registered HIV cases in Hungary. Some professionals attributed the increase to the growing number of Sub-Saharan travellers who have unprotected sexual contacts with Hungarian females. According to Pettkó, the modification of the visa legislation is also important because the authorities provide 40.000 visas per year, implying that there is a need to cut down this number. He refered to recent Polish and U.S. legislations as best practices.
Peter Sarosi published an article on behalf of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union in Népszabadság, the most popular Hungarian daily. The article criticizes the conservative proposal and points out that this attitude is not the source of the solution but part of the problem. Discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS cannot guarantee the protection of public health but only creates the illusion of security in the society. The International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, a document published by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2006, states: „there is no public health rationale for restricting liberty of movement or choice of residence on the grounds of HIV status. According to current international health regulations, the only disease which requires a certificate for international travel is yellow fever. Therefore, any restrictions on these rights based on suspected or real HIV status alone, including HIV screening of international travellers, are discriminatory and cannot be justified by public health concerns.”
Peter Sarosi
