Swedish young woman's lone plane protest stops deportation of Afghan asylum seeker

Elin Ersson had booked a ticket for the flight from Gothenburg to Istanbul after she found out that an Afghan man was going to be deported on the plane.

In a lone protest against the deportation, Ersson live-streamed a tense standoff with other passengers and airline crew as she refused to sit down until the 52-year-old man was removed from the flight.

He was reportedly due to be transferred to Afghanistan from Istanbul.

In the video, Ersson says that the asylum seeker "will most likely be killed if he stays on this plane".

The student explains to other passengers that she does not agree with Swedish deportation policy which classifies Afghanistan as a safe country to send rejected asylum seekers back to.

At one point an angry passenger, who appears to be British, berates her for delaying the flight and takes away her phone.

"What is more important, a life, or your time? … I want him to get off the plane because he is not safe in Afghanistan," she responds.

"I am trying to change my country's rules, I don't like them. It is not right to send people to hell."

Other passengers eventually came forward to voice support for her protest, and the plane erupts in applause as the Afghan asylum seeker is taken off the flight.

Swedish authorities said the Afghan man was in custody and would be deported, although they did not specify a date.

Ersson could face fines or jail time for her actions, Deutsche Welle reported.

The video has since been widely shared and received almost two million views, with Ersson receiving widespread praise.