Swedish student's plane protest halts man's deportation to Afghanistan

Elin Ersson staged the protest on a flight from Gothenburg to Istanbul
Elin Ersson
Alexandra Richards25 July 2018

A Swedish student prevented an Afghan asylum seeker from being deported by refusing to sit down on a flight from Gothenburg to Istanbul, preventing the plane from taking off.

Elin Ersson, a student at Gothenburg University, broadcast the seemingly pre-planned stunt live on Facebook on Monday.

The footage showed the woman refusing to take her seat or get off the Turkish Airlines flight as she announced that a man on the plane was being deported to Afghanistan by Swedish immigration services.

Speaking to the camera, the student said: “Is there war in Afghanistan and this man has to go to death?"

Airline staff can be heard in the footage attempting to take Ms Esson’s phone from her as she filmed the interaction and pleading with her to take her seat.

The student refused claiming that everything she was doing was legal.

“I am doing what I can to save a person’s life. As long as a person is standing up and if more people are standing up then the pilot can’t take off, all I want to do is stop the deportation then I will comply with the rules here.

“This is all perfectly legal and I have not committed a crime," she said.

Ms Ersson urged other passengers to stand up in order to prevent the plane from taking off and explained she had originally planned to stage he protest after hearing another younger man was set to board the flight.

She adds that although that man did not face deportation that day, another 52-year-old man did.

During the commotion a British passenger can be heard taking the student’s phone and accusing her of scaring children, to which Ms Ersson responded that the refugee’s life was more important.

As the footage continues other passengers begin to stand in solidarity with the student.

Eventually Ms Ersson is told by a staff member that she would be allowed off the plane with the Afghan asylum seeker.

The announcement was met by applause from the other passengers.

Speaking through tears, Ms Ersson said: “There was only one person on this flight today, but there will be more.”

A spokesman for Swedavia Airline, a company which operates and develops a network of Swedish airports including Gothenburg, confirmed that the incident took place on a Turkish Airlines flight.

He said: “I can confirm that the Turkish Airline flight from Gothenburg to Istanbul on July 23 was delayed for two hours.”

Swedish police confirmed that that a man and a woman were removed from the plane by officers.

It is not clear whether or not the asylum seeker will be deported at a later date.

The Standard has contacted Turkish Airlines for further comment.

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