WATCH: Student stops asylum seeker deportation with plane protest

Footage of a Swedish student’s protest to prevent an Afghan asylum seeker from being deported has gone viral.

The student, Elin Ersson, is being applauded for her bravery on social media after refusing to take her seat on board a Turkish Airlines flight from Gothenburg to Istanbul on Monday evening, local time.

Ersson live streamed herself to demonstrate against the planned deportation of a 52-year-old Afghan asylum seeker on board the plane, reports Fairfax.

During the live stream, Ersson can be seen trying to brush off attempts by someone else on the plane who is trying to take her phone.

“The people here working are trying to take my phone from me just because a person is going to get deported to Afghanistan where there’s a war and he’s going to get killed,” she said in the video.

Passengers can be heard telling her to sit down so the flight can take off.

“I don’t want a man’s life to be taken away because you don’t want to miss your flight,” she said.

During the 15 minute video, you can hear aircraft staff trying to negotiate with her and fellow passengers angrily asking her to take her seat.

One man manages to snatch her phone off her, telling her she’s scaring children, only to have a flight attendant take it off him and give it back.

“I don’t like my country’s rules, I’m trying to change them,” she told another passenger.

Around halfway through the video, the aggression turns to support with many passengers applauding her and some even joining her protest.

About 10 minutes in, Ersson and the asylum seeker were told they would be allowed to exit the plane.

Ersson purchased her ticket on the morning of the flight after finding out a young asylum seeker was to be deported, reports the Guardian.

The young asylum seeker was not on the flight, but she soon discovered another Afghan asylum seeker in his 50s was on board instead.

“People [in Afghanistan] are not sure of any safety,” she told the Guardian.

“They don’t know if they’re going to live another day. As I’ve been working and meeting people from Afghanistan and heard their stories, I’ve been more and more in the belief that no one should be deported to Afghanistan because it’s not a safe place.

“The way that we are treating refugees right now, I think that we can do better, especially in a rich country like Sweden.”

You can watch the whole live stream here.

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afghanistan asylum seeker refugee crisis turkish airlines