AIDS,travel and migration: legal and human rights aspects

This article discusses the legal and human rights aspects of AIDS, travel, and migration in Africa. Restrictions upon migration and travel in the context of HIV/AIDS have directed attention on the jeopardy of free international movement and the need to uphold it. International travel and migration have been blamed for introducing HIV and restrictions imposed to prevent the import of such disease. Contemporary legal and administrative barriers to free movement of people across national borders are similar to the physical barriers imposed to prevent the spread of diseases in past centuries. However, physical barriers failed to prevent the international spread of diseases and legal and administrative barriers have been proven ineffective. Meanwhile, responses to HIV/AIDS set patterns for other health-related issues and to affect the entire legal framework of international travel and migration. Based on previous studies, data on migratory flows and numbers of travelers and migrants are scarce in Africa. Migrants represent more or less 10% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa or 35 million persons, including some 60 million refugees.