As the Instagram star helped rescue dozens of Afghanistan

Dozens of desperate Afghans who had tried to flee the Taliban before Tuesday’s deadline for the US withdrawal from Kabul came to security with the help of an unexpected site: Instagram influencer Quentin Quarantine.

Quarantino is the alter ego of Tommy Marcus, 25, of New York City, formerly known for his liberal memes and jokes about opponents of COVID-19 vaccines. Along with his followers, Quarantino raised $ 7 million in a few days on GoFundMe to launch rescue missions in Afghanistan to evacuate as many people as possible, many of whom said they had been threatened by the Taliban.

On Wednesday, its “Operation Flyaway” mission helped transport 51 people from Afghanistan to Uganda in a private charter plane funded by the GoFundMe campaign.

More than 121,000 people had donated to the campaign after Marcus appealed to his 832,000 followers, making it one of the largest humanitarian fundraisers in GoFundMe history.

“It’s beyond humiliating them to have that faith in me, to be willing to put into their hands significant amounts of money that I trust,” Marcus told The Associated Press.

Saraya International, a global development company, and the Rockefeller Foundation, which provided organizational support for the flight to Uganda, as well as another company involved in the evacuation, confirmed to the PA that the flight was contracted by the col. · Emergency collaboration funded through Marcus Campaign Go FundMe.

“I don’t know which word to use besides miraculous, because it has restored faith in humanity,” Marcus said. “We have eliminated political divisions in this situation and we really come together from all walks of life to come together and save these people because .. they don’t deserve what their future holds if they stay in Afghanistan right now.” .

Those who were evacuated, Marcus said, were women, children, humanitarians and others “who have been fighting for the greatest good in Afghanistan for a long time,” as well as their families. Organizers had said they were looking to rescue 300 people who, along with their families, had “an imminent risk of being executed by the Taliban.”

The team had received skepticism from experts who questioned whether they had the capacity to achieve this mission at a time when governments, corporations and charities were rushing to take out Afghan citizens and employees by any plane. that he could.

Marcus’ group said more than 350 people have been rescued, and nearly 300 left Kabul on other charter flights that “Operation Flyaway” reimbursed to provide a safe passage from the country. A State Department spokesman wrote in an email statement that the department appreciates “the community-led efforts to support the Afghan relocation and resettlement process, which reflects the generosity of the American people and the community. international “.

“However, we cannot verify the authenticity or effectiveness of these efforts,” the statement said.

Officials from various non-profit groups describe a chaotic and dangerous scene at Kabul airport as they rushed to fill private charter flights with people who have the necessary documentation in the limited time they can keep their planes in the air. ‘asphalt.

“I am very proud of our extraordinary team and what we were able to achieve in such a short time,” said Scott Shadian, CEO of Sayara. “I just wish we could have done more. In short, the institutions failed and it breaks my heart the more we could have achieved. We are grateful to have left as many people as we have done against the greatest odds we have ever had. “

At the request of the U.S. government, Uganda received the evacuees, who will be staying in hotels in a city outside the country’s capital, Kampala. Ugandan officials said the nation would host up to 2,000 people who are expected to relocate elsewhere after a temporary stay in the country.

The charter flight that left Kabul in the early hours of Wednesday morning is one of several private rescue efforts organized by various groups, separately and through collaborations, to help Afghans flee. The flight from Kabul to Entebbe, Uganda, was arranged by Sayara, who informed a company working with Marcus that he knew of an aircraft available for Operation Flyaway.

Representatives of this North Carolina-based company, Raven Advisory, said they were able to pay for the mission with money raised through Marcus ’GoFundMe campaign. The company, which says it performs outsourcing work for the U.S. military, said “a fully voluntary team of former Special Forces soldiers and other veterans with experience in Afghanistan” was working with the military. to coordinate their rescue efforts.

Shadian, of Sayara, said he had met members of Operation Flyaway in Zoom only earlier in the week and, in the chaos of the Kabul evacuations, was delighted, they agreed to fund the flight.

“They were one of the many miracles we experienced at the time,” Shadian said. “Its last-minute funding, along with generous support from the Rockefeller Foundation, Schmidt Futures and other donors, was critical. Without the rapid funding of Operation Flyaway, that flight would not have been triggered.”

Raven Advisory CEO Sheffield Ford told the AP that to transport people to the airport, the U.S. government must be “comfortable with our organization saying that these people are fine and that they really they have done things to help their country, to help our country. ”

Although the deadly suicide bombing at the airport on Thursday complicated his efforts, Ford says those who are helping must have passports, a family member with whom the group can communicate and someone to guarantee they have passed. a background check. The goal, Ford noted, is to transport Afghan citizens to Taliban targets abroad.

“Our focus was on people who wanted to turn their country into something fantastic,” he said. “They thought they would stay there, with us, supporting them, for the long term. They will be women working in journalism and teachers. It could be the young and the old who have been very outspoken against the various atrocities committed by the Taliban in the past. ”

While crowdfunding has been a welcome tool for mobilizing donations in crisis situations, Patricia McIlreavy, president of the Washington-based Center for Disaster Philanthropy, stresses that donors should be cautious when doing so. donations to private efforts through these sites.

“There will not necessarily be a public report on where these funds went and how they were used, in the way that the law requires a non-profit organization (or a 501 (c) (3)”), he said .

Although rescue flights are ending the pending withdrawal period from the United States from Afghanistan, the GoFundMe campaign said it will donate the remaining money to the Washington-based International Women’s Media Foundation. According to organizers, the foundation, which supports journalists, will use the money to “partner with organizations and experienced experts to support people once they are on safe ground.”

Ford was impressed with how quickly millions of GoFundMe were secured for these missions.

“It’s about people coming together to help others,” he said, “and it was awesome to see that happen.”

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