Gaza travel agencies offer false hope of emigration
Several travel agencies in the Gaza Strip are taking part in illegal emigration, often taking thousands of dollars from would-be Palestinian emigrants who risk their lives to reach Europe.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Many young Gazans have been trying to emigrate for years. Al-Monitor interviewed three would-be emigrants, all on condition of anonymity, the first of whom said that he has been defrauded twice by travel agencies in the Gaza Strip, submitting to two separate offices requests to emigrate from Palestine. The 27-year-old tried a third time with the same result. Over two years, he has lost $2,000.
He told Al-Monitor that his attempts to emigrate began in his last year of college, about six years ago. Despite being subjected to fraud by illegal travel agencies working under the radar of the Gaza government, he insisted on trying again and again.
