I know that other witnesses have raised the issue that, for example, claims based on domestic violence or homophobia would perhaps get short shrift because often countries that might be considered democratic do have problems with those issues. I would certainly say that discrimination related to HIV and AIDS is another type of discrimination to add to that list. I see absolutely great potential for my clients to be refused an appeal.
I'll give the example of Mexico. Mexico is a country where for the most part gay men are being refused refugee status right now whether or not they're HIV positive. There's a wealth of evidence that demonstrates that there's very serious hardship, for example, with respect to employment. So if someone doesn't have the right evidence the first time, or if after 60 days they're not able to marshal that very particular kind of evidence, they might be refused at the first hearing, but they would have been successful at the RAD, depending on whether an office in Mexico was on that list. If it was, then they'd lose that opportunity.