More than $5.8m raised in a day after online appeal to organise flights to rescue vulnerable Afghans

Troubled by the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the faces of helpless civilians rushing to escape Taliban rule, one Instagrammer who set up a fundraiser to help people get emergency flights out of the country has raised a remarkable $6m in just 24 hours.

Tommy Marcus started his GoFundMe initiative with a target of $4.4m, assuming this would take days if not weeks to achieve. To his shock, the fundraiser saw over $2.2m trickle in within the first 38 minutes. The “Flyaway: Emergency Afghan rescue mission” fundraiser had collected over $6.2m at the time of writing.

In a series of Instagram posts, Mr Marcus explained that this is a direct rescue effort that he is personally involved in and will coordinate.

"In 38 minutes, we have raised enough money to fully commit to the first airspace flying to Kabul. Our goal is to have two planes making multiple trips," the social media post read.

Explaining the modus operandi, the fundraising team said it is working with non-profits, NGOs, people on the ground in Kabul and more to consolidate more manifests for the new flights they can run. They want to get flights which will fly down to Kabul and airlift people out.

Additionally, the post said, the money will be used to support the needs of people who are leaving their country with just a bag and important documents in hand. “The money raised and every single nickel will be use to pay for flights or support people through several non-profit organisations,” the post said.

The team stitched together for this initiative will vet and sponsor anyone wishing to be rescued, they said.

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“We are making sure everyone we know is accounted for and have proper names, identifications and access to the airport,” Mr Marcus’s post read.

The initiative, however, faces logistical challenges. On the issue of where these flights will land, Mr Marcus said it was a “confidential matter due to security reasons”, asking people to reach out directly sharing details of those who need rescuing.

Experts have pointed out that Mr Marcus’s initiative has plenty of loopholes, including working with national immigration systems and getting valid visa permissions.

The crowd-funded effort “sounds crazy”, global migration professor at Tufts University Karen Jacobsen told The New York Times.

Explaining that people may not be even allowed to enter the country, Ms Jacobsen said: “There are several large problems that immediately occur to me, but the most obvious one is that all these rescued people will immediately bump up against the US immigration system.”

Adding to this list of woes, Phil Caruso, a board member at No One Left Behind – a non-profit that supports Afghan war allies – told The New York Times that the most pressing concern is ensuring Afghans can get past the US and Taliban checkpoints and make it to Kabul International Airport in the first place.

Thousands of people have camped outside the airport since Sunday, when the militant group entered Kabul and took control of the country from the fleeing president Ashraf Ghani. As informal rule by the Taliban enters its fifth day, several checkpoints have sprung up around the city, searching cars and checking people’s documents. Taliban fighters can be seen patrolling in cars as well.

The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, said on Friday that most Afghans are unable to leave their homeland and that those who may be in danger “have no clear way out”.

Neighbouring countries should keep their borders open to allow Afghans and other citizens trapped in the south Asian country a route to asylum amid the “evolving crisis”, UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo said.