Airbnb opens up housing for 20,000 Afghan refugees globally

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN
AP Business Writer

Airbnb is offering free housing to 20,000 Afghan refugees globally and sought more assistance from hosts who rent property through the home-sharing company. In a tweet early Tuesday, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky wrote, “The displacement and resettlement of Afghan refugees in the U.S. and elsewhere is one of the biggest humanitarian crises of our time. We feel a responsibility to step up.” The UN Refugee Agency says that an estimated 270,000 Afghans had been newly displaced inside the country since January – primarily due to insecurity and violence –  bringing the total uprooted population to over 3.5 million.