Airbnb Announces Free Accommodation for 20,000 Afghan Refugees
Stating that the firm felt a responsibility to step up, Airbnb CEO Chesky said, I hope this inspires other business leaders to do the same. There's no time to waste.
Officials check the names of refugees upon their arrival on the tarmac after disembarking from an evacuation flight from Kabul, at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base, 30 km from Madrid, on August 24, 2021. (AFP photo)
New Delhi: Online vacation rental company Airbnb's co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky on Tuesday announced that the platform will temporarily house 20,000 Afghan refugees in its accommodations worldwide for free. Taking to Twitter, Chesky said that his company will be paying for these stays of the Afghan refugees. He said, "The displacement and resettlement of Afghan refugees in the US and elsewhere is one of the biggest humanitarian crises of our time." However, he has not mentioned any time frame on how long these accommodations will be provided for and neither did the firm specify how much the company plans to spend on the initiative.
Stating that the firm felt a responsibility to step up, Chesky added, "I hope this inspires other business leaders to do the same. There's no time to waste."
"As tens of thousands of Afghan refugees resettle around the world, where they stay will be the first chapter in their new lives. For these 20,000 refugees, my hope is that the Airbnb community will provide them with not only a safe place to rest and start over, but also a warm welcome home," he said.
The global offer starts immediately and the company said it was working with non-governmental organisations "on the ground" to help with the most pressing needs. The Airbnb CEO further added, "To make this happen, we are working closely with https://Airbnb.org, NGOs, and partners organisations on the ground to support the most pressing needs." Airbnb said it would release more details soon about how people might help.
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