Swedish activist stops flight from deporting Afghan man to ‘hell’
Elin Ersson’s refusal to sit down on a plane deporting a 52-year-old to Kabul could see her fined and jailed.
Published On 25 Jul 2018
A Swedish activist has prevented the deportation of an Afghan asylum seeker after she refused to sit down on a plane that was due to deport him from the country.
Facing sympathy and hostility from passengers, Elin Ersson began live-streaming her 15-minute protest as she boarded the plane and demanded the pilot exercise his right to refuse to take off while the 52-year-old deportee was on-board.
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“I am doing what I can to save a person’s life,” said Ersson as she struggled to keep her composure.
“As long as a person is standing, the pilot cannot take off. I’m not going to sit down until the person is off the plane.”
In recent years, thousands of Afghan asylum seekers have been told they will be returned to the active warzone despite outcry that the country is not safe.
Shouts of “sit down, we want to go” could be heard in the recording and a person believed to be a flight attendant made an attempt to snatch Ersson’s phone.
“What is more important, a life, or your time?” she told the person.
“I want him to get off the plane because he is not safe in Afghanistan. I am trying to change my country’s rules, I don’t like them. It is not right to send people to hell.”
After a tense standoff, passengers broke into applause when the asylum seeker and Ersson were taken off the plane by ground staff.
The video went viral on social media with many praising Ersson for her courage.
“This is what a human rights defender looks like,” said Amnesty International’s Stefan Simanowitz.
This is what a human rights defender looks like.
Inspiring footage of young Swedish woman stopping the deportation of a man from Gothenburg to Afghanistan. She refused to sit down until he was taken off the plane. https://t.co/JHIZ0ySnq8
— Stefan Simanowitz (@StefSimanowitz) July 24, 2018
“If ever you think one person can’t make a difference, then watch this!” said Caroline Lucas, an MP with the UK’s Green Party.
If ever you think one person can’t make a difference, then watch this!
Huge respect to Elin Ersson, a student at Gothenburg university, for – literally – standing up for what she believes in. A true inspiration https://t.co/81NI3gzdO0
— Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) July 25, 2018
Meanwhile, Joey Ayoub wrote that Ersson could be fined and jailed for delaying the Afghan man’s deportation, and posted a story published by the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).
According to DW, passengers who refuse to obey a pilot’s orders while on board face fines or up to six months in jail.
#ElinErsson may get fined and jail for delaying a 52 year old Afghan man's deportation from Sweden and the man may get deported anyway. This is the Swedish government's response to basic decency in an era where the vulnerable are being routinely demonised. https://t.co/nBUpPSnQhB
— ibn baldwin (@joeyayoub) July 25, 2018
The incident has highlighted Sweden‘s strict policy on asylum seekers after the extraordinary events of 2015 when 163,000 people applied for asylum in the Scandinavian country.
A 2017 study by Gothenburg University found that 52 percent favoured taking in fewer refugees into the country with 24 percent opposed.
Support for the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats has surged in advance of September’s election to the point where it could be hard for the government or opposition to form a working majority without their support.
Source: Al Jazeera