Image: Emma Hardy, Airbnb
Airbnb and Airbnb.org announced on Tuesday that they will temporarily house 20,000 Afghan refugees for free. The effort, an evolution of the home renting platform’s “Frontline stays” program for housing first responders, is in response to the refugee crisis caused by the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s takeover of the country.
“It has become abundantly clear that the displacement and resettlement of Afghan refugees here in the United States and elsewhere is a significant humanitarian crisis – and in the face of this need, our community is ready to once again step up,” the company wrote in its announcement. This is of course dependent on Airbnb’s existing hosts agreeing to help out. In a tweet thread announcing…