Airbnb says it will host 20,000 Afghan refugees

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CEO Brian Chesky said Tuesday that the program would begin immediately and that Airbnb would pay for the stays.

“The displacement and resettlement of Afghan refugees in the United States and elsewhere is one of the greatest humanitarian crises of our time. We feel a responsibility to strengthen ourselves,” Chesky said in a statement. series of posts on Twitter.

Chesky said the company would work closely with NGOs and their non-profit organization, Airbnb.org, which provides housing to people who need it after natural disasters and other crises.

Chesky did not say how long the refugees would stay or how much they would fund their stays. The company did not immediately respond to a request from CNN Business for more information.

Tens of thousands of people have tried to flee Afghanistan in recent days after the country’s capital, Kabul, fell to the Taliban. Many Afghans have arrived at Kabul airport in hopes of boarding evacuation flights operated by the United States and other governments.

Decades of conflict in Afghanistan have already produced an acute refugee crisis. There are nearly 2.5 million registered refugees from Afghanistan, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which comprises Asia’s largest prolonged refugee population.

NGOs, religious groups and local governments in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries have pledged to help Afghan refugees. Chesky asked the business community to follow his example.

“I hope this inspires other business leaders to do the same. There’s no time to waste,” Chesky said Tuesday.

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