Airbnb said on Tuesday it will render free irregular accommodation to 20,000 Afghanistani refugees fleeing the Taliban ’s virtually staring takeover of Afghanistan in the wake of U.S. military withdrawal , with the program beginning immediately .
CEO Brian Chesky tweetedearly Tuesday that the ship’s company “ will begin living accommodations 20,000 Afghani refugees globally for free , ” adding that while the company will be paying for the stay , “ we could not do this without the generosity of our Hosts . ” Chesky summate : “ The displacement and relocation of Afghan refugee in the US and elsewhere is one of the biggest human-centered crisis of our meter . We find a responsibility to step up . ”
In a statement , Airbnb order that that it and Chesky would be covering costs through the non - profit 501(c)(3 ) Airbnb.org , which has antecedently provide trapping for disaster dupe and health prole during the novel coronavirus pandemic . The organization will also be solicit donations for its Refugee Fund . It is working with resettlement agencies and other partners to identify those in pauperism of housing . The fellowship added that it “ urge fellow member of the global line of work community to join effort to provide immediate support to Afghan refugee . ”
A U.S. soldier watches civilians at a processing center for Afghan refugees at Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Virginia on Aug. 24, 2021.Photo: Joshua Roberts (Getty Images)
Reached by electronic mail , Airbnb did not say how long it would be cater the housing or natural covering measure . However , the company wrote in the command it has already provided 165 refugees from Afghanistan “ safe housing shortly after touching down in the U.S. ” over the last weekend .
The Taliban , an ultra - reactionist Moslem activist group originally backed by the CIA and Pakistan ’s Inter - Services Intelligence agency to fight the Soviets during the Cold War , manipulate Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 , when they were deposed by the U.S. in the wake of the Sept. 11 , 2001 panic attacks for providing safe haven to the Al - Qaeda terror web . But it was never even close to being destroyed andcontinued to fightboth the U.S.-led coalition occupy the country and security forces commanded by the U.S.-backed Afghanistani government . President Joe Biden ’s administration , having call to bring an end to the seemingly never - ending U.S. occupation of the country , has so far chosen to abide by a sight happen upon with the Talibanunder Donald Trump ’s administrationto deplumate out all U.S. troops ( though it put out the timeline to the remainder of August 2021 ) . Despite assurances to the contrary from Biden ’s administration , the Afghan governing put up piddling resistance and efficaciously ceased to exist beyondisolated mathematical group of holdoutsas Taliban military group consolidated ascendancy in bare calendar week .
The 20 disastrous years of U.S. military control stretch acrossfour presidential administrations , causedhundreds of K of deathsand untold economical and social equipment casualty . And according to United Nations estimate , ended with just forgetful of 2.5 million register Afghan refugees . The only part of Afghanistan where U.S. military force remain station is the aerodrome in Kabul , where tens of thousands of refugee heroic to avoid vengeance and/or oppression by the renascent Taliban have fled in recent workweek in a last - ditch effort to board the last planing machine leaving the country .
The Taliban have since announced that while they will let foreign subject leave , they will not allow Afghanistani citizens to reach the airport , and they counterbalance any continue evacuations beyond Aug. 31 . Witnesses have described the activist group’scrackdown on dissentandreprisals againstthose suspected of assisting U.S. or NATO force during the occupation . On Tuesday , allot to CNBC , the Biden administration said it had evacuate or helped evacuate some 58,700 people from Afghanistan since Aug. 14 , including about 21,600 airlifted since Monday . According to theWashington Post , Biden tell G-7 leaders on Tuesday that he believes the excreting will be completed by the Aug. 31 deadline . While he is not expected to announce an extension , the White Houseleft openthe possibleness that the final withdrawal date could change if necessary .
Many of the refugee are presently in squalid conditions , such as in airdock at Doha , Qatar ’s Al Udeid Air Base , where thousands arereportedly being heldin searing August temperature without air conditioning and a dire lack of resourcefulness . Axios obtained an e-mail , institutionalize last Friday by U.S. Central Command supervisory special agent Colin Sullivan , detailing circumstance at the base including uncleaned human waste and a scum bag infestation . Sullivan spell , “ While not in any way understate the conditions in Kabul nor the conditions the Afghanis [ sic ] are escaping from , the current conditions in Doha are of our own doing . ”
Airbnb said in the statement that Airbnb.org has provided fitting to roughly 75,000 people in demand since 2012 . Chesky tweeted , “ I trust this breathe in other business leaders to do the same . There ’s no time to waste . ”
The company , whichoperated in Afghanistanduring the U.S. line and still has a small telephone number of list there as of Tuesday afternoon , is n’t the only one offering to facilitate during the crisis ( and implicitly pick up some PR goodwill in the process).According to Reuters , Verizon Inc. has announced plans to throw overboard guardianship for outcry to Afghanistan through Sept. 6 , while Walmart is donating $ 1 million to nonprofits to patronize Afghani refugees . The Pentagon say this weekend that it hasenlisted 18 aircraftfrom United Airlines , American Airlines , Delta Airlines , and others to take displaced persons to their next destinations after debark from flight leaving Afghanistan , Reuters summate .
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