Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Sean Fraser speaks during a news conference with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, Wednesday, April 6, 2022 in Ottawa.
Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
The federal government says it is now prioritizing temporary travel visas for people seeking to attend the AInternational AIDS Conference in Montreal at the end of July.
Founder Tian Johnson says it is “truly vile” that thousands of people from the Global South are still waiting to find out if they’ll get a visa, leaving the conference to be only “white, privileged and academic.”
The African Alliance is one of 250 Canadian and international humanitarian groups that signed a letter to Immigration Minister Sean Fraser in June asking him to intervene.
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The letter warns there is a real risk the voices of people living in countries most affected by AIDS will be missing from the conversation.
A spokesman for Fraser says visa offices have now been sent lists of conference invitees and are being told to prioritize their temporary travel visa applications.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
