Lending A Helping Hand: Airbnb To House 20,000 Afghan Refugees

In the midst of a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, home-sharing company Airbnb has announced that it will temporary housing for 20,000 Afghan refugees around the world, as part of its Airbnb.org charitable arm. The company's CEO Brian Chesky called their displacement and resettlement one of the biggest humanitarian crises of the world.

The company will coordinate with Airbnb hosts who want to offer their homes to refugees for free, or at a discounted rate. As for the other half of the bill and operational expenditures, the charitable organisation will pick up the rest of the tab.

Chesky will also fund the effort. "While we will be paying for these stays, we could not do this without the generosity of our hosts," said Chesky. The company, however, has not clarified where, or for how long, it will house refugees. Chesky said that he hoped other businesses leaders would be inspired to do the same.

Supporting International Rescue Committee

Since the fall of Afghanistan, the company has been working on a smaller scale, supporting the International Rescue Committee (IRC), a New York-based refugee charity, the Jewish-run nonprofit HIAS, and Church World Service to provide immediate short-term accommodation for Afghan refugees, including 165 who arrived in the US over the weekend.

An estimated 3.5 million Afghans are currently internally displaced within the country. Countries like the USA, Canada, UK, India, Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey and Uganda have agreed to take in Afghan refugees.

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