International AIDS organizations say people from Africa, South America and Asia who plan to attend a major convention in Montreal are still struggling to get visas.
Last week, nearly 250 organizations from around the world sent a joint letter to Immigration Minister Sean Fraser in which he called for action to be taken to ensure participants continue to attend the International AIDS Conference.
Tinashe Rufurwadzo, with Y+ Global, an international organization for HIV+ youth, says her organization’s board chairman and its other employees have been denied visas to attend the conference.
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Rufurwadzo says that the youth of the African continent need to be able to participate in the conference meaningfully, and not just be represented in pictures in PowerPoint presentations.
Tumi Komanyane, who runs several programs for the international NGO Frontline AIDS in South Africa, says the groups she works with were planning to help more than a dozen young people join the convention, but first After 10 I decided not to even bother applying for the visa. four applications rejected
Conference organizers have previously described visa delays and denials as a potential disaster for the event.
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