Airbnb offers free housing to refugees and others in limbo after Trump's executive order
Airbnb, the home-sharing site, has said it will give free housing to refugees and any others not allowed into the United States, presumably as a result of President Donald Trump's executive order to temporarily ban refugees from the country.
Brian Chesky, the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, tweeted the offer late Saturday as travellers from several Muslim-majority countries were detained or otherwise placed in limbo at airports around the world.
Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US. Stayed tuned for more, contact me if urgent need for housing
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) January 29, 2017
Trump on Friday signed orders not only to suspend admission of all refugees into the United States for 120 days but also to implement "new vetting measures" to screen out "radical Islamic terrorists."
Refugee entry from Syria, however, would be suspended indefinitely, and all travel from Syria and six other nations - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen - is suspended for 90 days. Trump also said he would give priority to Christian refugees over those of other religions.
Chesky earlier said singling out countries and refugees in such a way was "not right, and we must stand with those who are affected."
Not allowing countries or refugees into America is not right, and we must stand with those who are affected.
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) January 29, 2017
Joe Gebbia, another co-founder and Airbnb's chief product officer, also shared his support of refugees in a series of tweets Saturday and encouraged people to donate to the United Nations refugee agency.
Founded in 2008, Airbnb is now a $30 billion company that operates in 50,000 cities in 191 countries.
It was not immediately clear how housing arrangements for any stranded refugees would be made or how Airbnb hosts would be chosen and compensated.
The Washington Post
