Fleeing your country illegally is never easy and fraught with life and death risks. Amidst the bombs dropping over Gaza, the people there are paying amongst the highest price in monetary terms to escape.

Crowdfunding platforms such as GoFundMe or JustGiving are being used to help Palestinians raise cash to cross their border. Friends and family make pages to appeal to help their brethren. An article by TIME said over 12,000 active fundraisers have been launched since October 7, collectively raising $77m till March this year, to help Gazans flee or provide relief such as food or medical care. However, sending the money to Gaza, especially with sanctions against Hamas in place, is another challenge.

Be it Pakistan, Palestine or Brazil, the money goes to middlemen to facilitate bribes along the way. While the amounts quoted by different media outlets differ and likely vary from person to person, it is the middlemen along with complicit security personnel that reap the benefit of thousands of dollars, usually in cash.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, April 29th, 2024