An Afghan migrant whose deportation from Sweden was delayed when a student refused to take her seat on a plane in protest had served time in jail for assault. Swedish police confirmed the 52-year-old man had been convicted and served time for assault, but his denied asylum application was unrelated to his crimes.
Elin Ersson, a 22-year-old student at Gothenburg University, halted the deportation earlier this month by refusing to sit down on a flight from Gothenburg to Istanbul, streaming the protest on Facebook. The man will now be repatriated to Afghanistan at a later date, authorities said.
Ersson initially planned to stop the deportation of another Afghan man but bought a ticket after learning the 52-year-old would be on the plane. Her protest, viewed millions of times, shows cabin crew and passengers asking her to sit down. She insisted she would comply once the man was let go.
Swedish authorities said Ersson could face up to six months in prison for refusing to obey police orders. The response on social media has been mostly positive, with her video racking up millions of views. Ersson said she believes no one should be deported to Afghanistan because it is not a safe place.
Sweden has seen a change in asylum policy after the 2015 migrant crisis, when 163,000 people sought asylum. The far-right Sweden Democrats are polling at around 20 per cent ahead of September elections, with some mainstream parties proposing tougher measures to increase deportations.
