Home Office Failed To Put in Place System to Protect Detainees With HIV

London: The Home Office failed to put in place systems to protect detainees with HIV, a high court judge has ruled, after a man was denied lifesaving medication for four days. The landmark ruling found that in failing to adequately care for people with HIV the Home Office breached article 3 of the European convention of human rights, which protects against inhuman and degrading treatment.

The 28-year-old man, referred to only as CSM, went without his antiretroviral medication for three days after he was detained by Home Office officials following an interview about his claim for asylum in the UK. CSM was diagnosed with HIV as a child, shortly after arriving in the UK in 1996, and his condition requires him to take medication at the same time each day to prevent the virus “rebounding”. He was deported to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2017 after being jailed for attempted robbery and possession of a firearm, but managed to return the following year and claimed asylum, alleging he had been tortured in the DRC shortly after his arrival.

Read more: Diane Taylor, Guardian, https://is.gd/CDQAr4