When all else fails . . . . .

If all legal avenues have been exhausted and the deportee is booked on a flight, it is important to note that the plane cannot depart until all passengers are seated with their safety belts fastened.

Any person being removed will receive a form (Removal Directions IS 82D) stating the time, date and airline that they are to be removed on.

Actions at the airport check in desk

A leaflet should be made with the following information and handed to any passengers boarding:

Stand up for Human Rights - Don't take your seat

Notice To All Passengers On Flight number ..... destination .....

Your plane has been scheduled to carry a deportee X against his/her will. Please save X from deportation.

(Brief information on deportees reasons not to be returned.)

Refuse to fasten your seat belt, until X is taken off the flight.

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     Speak to the cabin crew. Some cabin crew unions and associations already have union policy not to carry any passenger against their will. Other unions and associations are discussing this vital issue. Ask the cabin crew not to board the deportee, or to take the deportee off the flight.

     Try to speak to the captain. It is the captain's duty to make sure that the flight leaves on time and for its proper purpose. The captain has the power to order guards and deportees off the plane if he so chooses.

     Actions against Airlines who are carrying deportees

     Airlines are subject to public pressure and will not carry deportees if there is an organised protest which will damage their public profile.

     This should be a fax protest, directed at their main office. Find the names of the Directors of the airlines.
British Airways, and Lufthansa, last year on several occasions took deportees off flights after powerful public protests. Lufthansa has company policy not to carry deportees if there is public condemnation.

     Actions with Trade Unions and Associations, which service flights

     Ground and air crew staff at airports will probably belong to a trade union or association. Some unions have a policy against carrying forced deportees. Find out which union or association services the airline. Contact them immediately and find out what their position is.

If they have no policy, then try to get to speak at a branch meeting to raise the issue.

The main unions and associations are:

Airline Flight Attendants (AFA) who staff United Airlines. They already have union policy not to carry deportees against their will.

British Airways Stewards & Stewardesses Association (BASSA)

Cabin Crew 89

British Air Line Pilots Association (BALPA)