Dec. 1 – About once a week, Sergiu Grimalschi (pictured) visits the city’s central arrival facility for asylum seekers. The social worker and representative for migration at the Berliner AIDS-Hilfe (BAH) has a bleak mission: Spotting people whose AIDS-related illness has become so severe that just one glance is enough to know that urgent care is needed. Time after time, he brings affected refugees straight to the hospital. Aside from this, Sergiu sees a great need for action amongst all refugees – ones who may be in good health but don’t know about infection and safer sex. Europeans may be astonished to learn that AIDS is not a major concern in Syria: Third-party sources estimate only 5,000 people in the entire country have it. “Prevention amongst refugees is a very important task for us,“ says Sergiu, thinking of the young gay men who come to Berlin and face high-risk scenarios unarmed with knowledge. Aside from ignorance about the virus, there is another issue: In most of their countries of origin, homosexuality is either illegal, or at the very least, highly stigmatized. Sergiu realizes that of their own volition, very few refugees will come to the BAH for counseling or testing.

“We need to be on the offensive,“ explains the experienced social worker, himself a migrant who came to Berlin from Romania 25 years ago. Being proactive means, for example, that Sergiu and his coworkers (many of whom are volunteers), target accommodations where single young men reside. Without addressing “homosexuality“ by name, BAH invites refugees to come over for casual conversations with the message: Take care of yourselves!

Another aspect of Sergiu’s work is dealing with migrants with HIV and AIDS, either from EU countries or from other countries that have been declared “safe“ and are therefore excluded from the asylum process. In contrast to officially recognized asylum seekers, all other refugees have no claim to public healthcare. “Jobless EU citizens, undocumented residents, former tourists, ex-convicts – they all fall through the cracks, and, after a few years without any medical care, their lives are in serious danger,“ he explains. The BAH has responded by offering counseling, making sure the staff can provide service in as many languages as possible. “We try to find a path toward legalization for every individual, staying by their sides during that difficult time without healthcare.“

With their new efforts in motion, the BAH is eager to emphasize that nobody comes to Germany just to get AIDS treatment. While England, Spain and France offer HIV treatment to everyone regardless of residence status, Germany has stricter regulations. The BAH has long been urging the state to change. On that note, Sergiu doesn’t sugarcoat: “We look forward to the day when, in a supposedly upstanding country as Germany, we no longer have to be ashamed that people are dying, just because they and their illness weren’t part of the plan.“

Daniel Segal, Translation: Joey Hansom