A Kurd fearing persecution in his home country of Iran, Ghader Ghalamere fled the country years ago and now has two young children with his wife Fatemeh, a Swedish resident.

As a result he qualifies for a residence permit himself – yet because of a quirk in immigration laws he is required to apply for it from outside Sweden.

On Thursday, Mr Ghalamere was put on a flight at Östersund bound for Stockholm – and ultimately Iran itself – accompanied by his friends and family in protest.

Gathering in the departure lounge, they spoke to other passengers preparing to board the flight and explained the situation.

Clearly moved, once on board the plane the other passengers refused to fasten their seat belts – a protest that prevented the pilots from being able to begin take off.

With the flight unable to go ahead as scheduled, Mr Ghalamere was removed and taken to a migrant detention centre in Gävle, central Sweden – but the country’s migration board insists nothing about his situation has changed.

“It’s enough now,” said Sanna Vestin, chairman of the Swedish Network of Refugee Support Groups (FARR). “No one who sees the family can doubt that it would harm the children to their father expelled.”

Read the full story in The Independent here.