Queer Activists Encourage Travelers to Stop Deportations with Adverts

This July, we wrote about one brave Swedish girl who refused to allow a plane to take off with a refugee being deported, and now activists are encouraging others to do the same on International Migrants Day. More than 200 ads were replaced with signs that encouraged Londoners to “See It, Say It, Stop It,” a play on British Transport Police’s “See It, Say It, Sorted.”

The signs, which were the work of the group Lesbian and Gays Support Migrants, want those boarding commercial aircrafts to take action when they see someone being forcibly removed from a plane. The animated ads describe the steps one should take to potentially save a refugees life: talk to the pilot and refuse to sit down.

“Often when we are confronted with situations where we see vulnerable people falling victim to an abusive system we feel powerless to help,” Sam Björn from queer activist group said. “We want to change that. We aim to build a movement to resist this brutal, racist practice of secretive deportations and the hostile environment as a whole…We hope to empower everyone to take a stand and refuse to sit in silence.”