Airbnb to supply free housing to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees

Airbnb said Monday it is going to provide free, momentary housing for as much as 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine.

The corporate will fund these stays with assist from Airbnb hosts and donations to the Airbnb.org Refugee Fund.

Over 500,000 Ukrainians have fled because the battle started, in line with AP information. Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations mentioned on Monday that Kyiv nonetheless hopes for a diplomatic decision with Russia at the same time as Moscow sends extra troops and weapons to its border.

“We’d like assist to satisfy this objective,” Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky mentioned on Twitter. “The best want we’ve got is for extra individuals who can provide their properties in close by international locations, together with Poland, Germany, Hungary and Romania,” Chesky tweeted.

The initiative is a part of Airbnb’s efforts to help refugees by means of the corporate’s nonprofit, Airbnb.org.

In September, the corporate mentioned it deliberate to offer free short-term housing to 40,000 Afghan refugees, double the preliminary objective of 20,000 introduced in August. The corporate mentioned it has offered housing to 21,300 Afghan refugees as of final week.

Airbnb and Airbnb.org have related 54,000 refugees and asylees from international locations all over the world — together with from Syria, Venezuela and Afghanistan — to momentary housing over the past 5 years, the corporate mentioned. Airbnb began its Refugee Fund final 12 months.

Airbnb has not specified precisely how a lot the corporate plans to spend on the dedication or how lengthy refugees shall be housed. The corporate mentioned it is going to present extra details about how hosts can help this initiative, corresponding to by providing free or discounted stays, within the coming days.