ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 5, 2008  

Churches 'Won't Give Up' on Travel Restriction Issue, Says Lutheran Leader
08-137-JB

     MEXICO CITY (ELCA) -- The religious community "will not give
up" until travel restrictions that limit the movement of people
living with HIV are lifted worldwide , said the Rev. Mark S.
Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) and president of the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF).
     Hanson spoke at an Aug. 4 news conference on the issue here
at the XVII International AIDS Conference.  He has been a speaker
and panelist at this meeting and an Ecumenical Pre-conference
here, organized by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA),
Geneva, July 31-Aug. 2.
     Hanson applauded the recent PEPFAR reauthorization approved
by the U.S. Congress and signed by U.S. President George W. Bush.
That legislation calls for the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human
Services to write new policies that remove current restrictions
on people with HIV entering the United States. He said the ELCA,
through its Washington Office, joined a broad coalition in
advocating for the change, and the church will "be vigilant in
our monitoring of the next steps in the process."
     Travel restrictions for people living with HIV promote
stigma and discrimination, Hanson said. "For both the ELCA and
the Lutheran World Federation this is both an issue of faith and
of human rights," he told reporters. "Our sacred Scriptures are
very clear that God frees us and God calls us to give evidence of
our faith by how we welcome the sojourner, the traveler, the
newcomer in our midst."
     Hanson noted that the LWF Council, which met in June in
Arusha, Tanzania, called for the lifting of travel restrictions
on people living with HIV, and he said there were no medical
grounds for such rules. Governments can better protect the health
of their citizens through awareness programs and the full
inclusion of people living with HIV and AIDS in society,
including the church, he said.
     The religious community, through organizations such as the
EAA and LWF, will encourage member churches to advocate with
their governments to lift HIV travel restrictions, Hanson said.
He also suggested religious groups consider "not holding national
conferences in countries with HIV-related travel restrictions."
     Others at the news conference were Per Miljeteig, president,
HIV Norway; the Rev. Christo Greyling, chair of ANERELA+, an
African network of religious leaders living with or personally
affected by HIV, and staff with World Vision International; and
Mariangela Simao, director, Brazilian AIDS Program. Miljeteig and
Simao are also with the International Task Team on HIV-Related
Travel Restrictions.
     Miljeteig said nearly 70 countries worldwide impose travel
restrictions on people with HIV, and there's no medical basis for
it.  He called such rules "legalized phobia" and "humiliating
treatment."
     Simao, whose country has no such restrictions, said
restrictive policies are "unacceptable."
     Greyling, a Dutch Reformed Church pastor from Johannesburg,
South Africa, has been HIV-positive for 21 years and is open
about his medical status.  He said his job with World Vision
recently required a move to an Asian country, but he found it
nearly impossible to enter several countries because of his
medical status.  "HIV-positive people are resource people who can
provide the face of HIV and the people who can give correct
information to respond to HIV and AIDS," he said.
---
     Information about faith-based participation in the
XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City is at
http://iac.e-alliance.ch on the Web.

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