Swedish Girl’s Video Goes Viral
(Commentary by Dara Precious Asiimwe)
In today’s world, the young
generation is having their voice heard loud and clear to justify their
political views through internet platforms. Teenagers and young adults have
proven that no one is too young to create change, whether the situation is big
or small. Trying to do something right is never wrong, but going against the
law brings consequences. As much as we have had the privilege to use internet
to fight our battles, we forget we are not invisible to the law.
Eli Ersson was heroic for
stepping in and preventing deportation for a convicted man last July, broadcast
her attempt to prevent a Turkish Airlines flight from leaving Göteborg
Landvetter Airport live on Facebook. Her timing wasn’t right but at least it
created awareness for asylum seekers in Sweden. At the same time her actions
had consequences.
Her live video went instantly
viral and was viewed widely. Internet platforms have proven to be a powerful
source of instant news of any event happening all around the world. It’s
amazing how social media gives us the power and voice to provide our views and
help one another. However, this could lead to society pressure to believe
whatever the majority say. The fact that she stood up bravely and recorded her
protest live putting everyone at a standstill because many people and companies
are easily exposed for their injustice. It also gives a small guarantee of
safety to Eli as to the video can be used as both evidence and a reach of help
to the population.
Eli Ersson had done her
research and followed the guidelines of a ‘peaceful protest’ on the plane by
standing up and requesting for the pilot’s refusal to fly the plane, to free the
asylum seeker from being forced out of Sweden. She went live on Facebook to
spread her message and carefully prevented any passenger or staff member to be on
camera, respecting their confidentiality. She was supported and cheered on by
most of the passengers for her good cause. Even when some angry passengers were
furious, she still had support and protection from the staff members.
Unfortunately, the friend she tried to save had taken an earlier flight, but
she still stood up for the 50year old asylum seeker who was on that flight. Sadly,
both her friend and the 50year old man were both deported that same month.
Social media platforms have
yet to prove that they can voice out help and justice to those who need it, and
no one can be too young or old to create change. She received a lot of positive
response but also negative response from the government, who fined her.
Therefore, we should speak out on what is right but also be careful to not
bring any legal consequences to ourselves.
The key outtake – Spread media
in a powerful tool in a David versus Goliath scenario.
______________________________________________________________
Swedish
Student Fined for Anti-Deportation Protest that Went Viral
Elin Ersson received a £250 fine for refusing to take her
seat on a plane in Sweden last year
 |
| Swedish activist Elin Ersson at the district court in Gothenburg, Sweden. |
A Swedish student who livestreamed her protest against the deportation of an Afghan asylum seeker last year has been found guilty of violating Sweden’s aviation laws and fined £250.
Elin Ersson, 22, avoided a prison sentence at the
Gothenburg district court, where she was sentenced to a fine of 3,000 Swedish
krona.
Last July, she broadcast her attempt to prevent a Turkish
Airlines flight from leaving Göteborg Landvetter airport on Facebook. A
50-year-old Afghan asylum seeker and convicted criminal, who was being deported
from the country, was onboard.
After Ersson refused to take her seat, several other
passengers – including members of a football team – joined her protest and the
asylum seeker was removed from the plane, to applause from passengers. The video
went viral has been viewed millions of times around the world.
The protest has had a mixed reception in Sweden, where
attitudes have hardened towards immigration. The government has sharply reduced
the number of asylum seekers and brought the country’s asylum regime in line
with the rest of the EU. Sweden took in 370,000 people in the five years to
2016, but received 21,500 asylum applications last year, down from a peak of
163,000 in 2015.
Ersson declined to comment, but her lawyer Tomas Fridh told
the Guardian that he was disappointed by the court’s decision, and would
appeal. “Elin’s ambition was not to commit a crime or break the law – her
protest might be seen to have an element of civil disobedience, but in this
case what was right was also legal,” he said.
In the aftermath of the protest itself, Tobias Billström, a
leading member of the centre-right Moderate party, led calls for harsher
sentences against asylum rights activists. Meanwhile, liberal and leftwing
politicians saw Ersson’s prosecution as evidence of an official clampdown on
civil disobedience.
“Sweden has been going towards tighter and tighter rules on
asylum, the perspectives have been narrowed,” Abir Al-Sahlani, a former MP for
the liberal Centre party who campaigned in 2011 against the deportation of a
91-year-old Ukrainian woman, said. “It is amazing for me as a liberal that it
is taking shape under a Social Democratic government … Decency has retreated;
this is a dramatic change in the Swedish debate.”
Fatemeh Khavari, an Afghan author and refugee, who founder
an anti-deportation campaign group, said: “Although it is not a lot of money,
this is a clear signal about what sort of society we are becoming. It is right
to save lives and wrong to be punished for trying.”
Ersson originally boarded the plane to prevent the deportation
of 26-year-old Ismail Khawari. However, Khawari was not on the plane, and was
deported separately. Seeing the other asylum seeker, Ersson decided to continue
her protest nonetheless.
She told Swedish media: “My starting point is that he [the
deportee onboard the plane] is human and deserves to live. In Sweden we do not
have the death penalty, but deportation to a country at war can mean death. If
someone has committed a crime, they may be jailed and serve their sentence in
Sweden.”
Source:
Image source: Adam Ihse/AFP/Getty Images
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