The 26-year-old New Yorker, known to his 800,000 subscribers as “Quentin Quarantino“thanks to his humorous memes in favor of vaccination, abortion or against Donald Trump, is stunned by the images of Afghans hanging from an American military plane taking off from Kabul airport.
With a few clicks on his Instagram account, he gave the impetus to what would become an extraordinary operation to evacuate hundreds of Afghans: in three days he amassed a pot of 7.2 million dollars and rallied soldiers in retired and former diplomats, specialists in asylum law, humanitarian aid and air transport in war zones.
A scenario worthy of Hollywood, where the power of social networks, ultra-rapid fundraising through crowdfunding and logistical efficiency of the Americans combine.
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AFP has collected the testimonies of actors of this “Flyaway operation“launched on August 17 and still ongoing, consulted messages from Afghans – women, children, LGBT people, social workers, journalists, interpreters – begging to leave their countries, and received contractual and budget documents attesting to”direct rescue“by several chartered planes of 565 Afghans, some in transit and others already arrived in the United States.
– “Power“d’Instagram –
At the fall of Kabul, “I was beyond horror and disgust. I just wanted to help“, tells AFP Tommy Marcus, entrepreneur and influencer, who says he makes a living from his interventions on Instagram from Brooklyn and New Jersey.
He then roused his subscribers, aware of “the power of (his) platform“.
From “thousands and thousands“Answers poured in in a few minutes, including one of his first fans who claimed to be”in contact with a group which has just evacuated a hundred people to France and which needs money“, according to Mr. Marcus.
He is also overwhelmed with unbearable messages and photos begging him to act: “In the name of humanity and justice, accept me as a refugee in a safe country!“, implores a woman, when a man asks her with”great pain“to exfiltrate his family terrorized by the return of the Taliban.
Overwhelmed with requests, Tommy Marcus urges his subscribers to help him “raise at least half a million dollars in 24 hours“. He now claims to have received”a million in two hours (…), 5 million in 24 hours (…) and 7 million in three days“.
– “Left pacifist” –
Faced with this “crazy and viral influx of money“, the one who says”left-wing pacifist“nevertheless hastily turned to professionals in war zones.
He was approached by Raven Advisory, a security services officer made up of former Pentagon and CIA staff, and enlisted the expertise of Karen Kraft, a former Army reserve officer converted into a producer. TV, at the head of an association of veterans.
Led by novice Tommy Marcus, “we all felt the same call to act“, enthuses Karen Kraft, kingpin of the operation.
“It’s the purest thing that I’ve ever done“, breaths Jason Hatch, veteran of the armed forces and diplomacy, responsible for the occasion to draw up lists of passengers to be evacuated and to collect the necessary documents for Afghans in transit to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kosovo, in Uganda and Albania.
Documents provided by Flyaway detail the overall budget for the operation and the precise list of the ten evacuation flights between August and early October: no less than $ 4.79 million, shared between several charter companies such as the Egyptian Mayfair or Kiwijet, owned by a New Zealand businessman, Nicolas Steele, who according to the Washington Post had trouble with the American authorities.
– Suicide bombing –
The organizers of Flyaway deplore that in the context of the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the suicide bombing carried out by the Islamic State group at Kabul airport on August 26 (more than 100 dead, including 13 American soldiers) has “completely frozen“evacuations: flights were canceled when they were already paid for, due to the deterioration of the security situation and the surge in insurance premiums.
According to Karen Kraft, two new planes for a total of nearly 600 passengers are ready to depart as soon as possible, one of which is provided by Kiwijet.
Nearly 123,000 people helped raise a $ 7.2 million prize pool on crowdfunding site GoFundMe, which assured AFP that Flyaway had complied with financial and international control and security regulations.
The US Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs, however, did not speak publicly about the operation. Contacted by AFP, the UNHCR did not respond.
In private, detractors note that the hundreds of people rescued are a drop in the bucket compared to the 123,000 exfiltrated by the US government and other states.
Then “why was it worth it?“, pretends to ask Enrique Herrera, former air force who took part in the operation:”Because it’s about human lives“.
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Like Somayah, 21, whose father was killed by the Taliban and who was evacuated on September 21 as part of Operation Flyaway to the United States. She hopes to make it her “new homeland“.
