‘Asylum seeker’ slapped on plane as he cried for help while being removed from UK

Video from the Turkish Airlines flight from London Heathrow and Istanbul on Saturday shows a man being slapped and his head pushed forcibly against his seat before take-off.

The clip was filmed by passenger Ahtzaz Ali, 27, an office manager from Birmingham, who was travelling to help Syrian refugees.

He told the Press Association he believed the man was an asylum seeker and the scenes left fellow passengers ‘disturbed’.

He said: ‘There was a man who was clearly upset on board the plane but wasn’t being abusive to the crew or anybody else.

‘All of a sudden, someone who seemed like they were an immigration officer came and started physically abusing the man by slapping him and pushing his face down whilst he was crying and shouting that he wouldn’t be safe going back to Afghanistan.

‘The journey after he was taken off the plane was very upsetting as passengers were in tears, clearly disturbed by what they had seen.

‘It was a violation of this man’s human rights and shocking to see how he was being treated.’

A Home Office spokesman said it did not comment on individual cases, but added: ‘If people are in the country illegally and refuse to leave voluntarily we will take action to remove them.

‘Whilst it is regrettable that some people become disruptive on removal, we do our utmost to try and minimise any potential impact on the rest of the passengers.

‘Any use of force must be fully justified and proportionate and is used only as a last resort for the shortest time possible.’