Although migrants living in France are particularly badly affected by the HIV epidemic and have to face a great number of difficulties (having left their country, family, friends..), many of them have a poor knowledge of the health, social welfare and economic circuits that they need to negotiate. The Conference for migrants aimed to give them a voice and unite people’s energies to put forth proposals and facilitate contact with social welfare and political groups.

Crystelle, who comes from Cameroon, one of the sixty women present, explains that she “was given no advice or information and was not directed towards an association” when she was told at the hospital that she was HIV-positive.
Noël, who had come to France to look for “a better life, money and work to help his family” which had stayed at home, emphasised the affected person’s responsibility to protect “his fellow man”. Like Emile, he wants to “make a positive plea” for better prevention within communities of foreign origin…
The Lyon Conference for Migrants in late 2005  gave the groups involved in the fight against AIDS an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the difficulties encountered by migrants and to work with them to find the best solutions.


In a climate of trust and confidentiality, people from foreign communities infected by the virus were able to explain their difficulties, say what they wanted to see happen and talk about their distress and, occasionally, anger. The women particularly, twice as many affected as men, often condemned to hide the fact that they are HIV-positive, were able to find a platform for expressing the feeling of exclusion that they had and the difficulties that they encounter day after day in talking about their status, or “negotiating” the use of a condom. A number of people  mentioned their feeling that they were “prisoners” of the treatment they received in the host country. They emphasised the fact that it was impossible to obtain treatment in their country of origin, so they were condemned to stay here. As far as they were concerned, they had not “chosen” immigration, it had been imposed upon them as a matter of survival.

They were able in a second session to extend the discussion with the heads of associations, who they would like to see working more actively against the epidemic and the discrimination that they suffer.

During the closing session, we invited Azouz Bégag, Minister of State for Equal Opportunities, Jean-Jacques Queyranne, Chairman of the Rhône-Alpes Regional Council, Pierre Bergé, Chairman  of Sidaction, and Amédée Thévenet, Chairman of Sida Info Service, to join Christian Saout, Chairman of AIDES, to hear the proposals put forward by the 130 participants.

The large number of recommendations made confirmed the need to break the silence. The groups who met in Lyon agreed on the main themes that need to be taken forward.

The urgent need to launch prevention campaigns in the specialist media was emphasised. People must be told how and by whom they will be supported in their fight against HIV. Finally, particular attention was paid to the danger of a possible media confusion between “AIDS” and “migrants”. People were asked to be extremely vigilant on this matter.