Article author:
Canadian press
Montreal — International AIDS organizations say African, South American and Asian people planning to attend major conferences in Montreal are still struggling to get a visa increase.
Last week, about 250 organizations around the world sent a joint letter to Immigration Minister Sean Fraser calling for action to enable participants to attend the International AIDS Conference.
Tinashe Rufurwadzo of Y + Global, an international organization for young people with HIV +, states that the president of his organization and another employee have been denied attendance at the conference.
Rufurwadzo states that young people on the African continent need to be able to attend the conference meaningfully, not just as represented by the pictures in their PowerPoint presentations.
Tumie Komanyane, who runs a number of international NGO frontline AIDS programs in South Africa, plans to help the group she works with to help more than 12 young people attend the conference. He said he did, but he didn't even apply. 10 visas after the first 4 applications have been rejected.
The conference organizer previously described visa delays and denials as potential disasters for the event.
This report by Canadian Press was first published on July 2, 2022.
