Worldwide: To mark World Refugee Day [20 June], Airbnb’s charitable arm Airbnb.org has announced a series of new initiatives to deepen its support for refugees and asylum seekers, as well as highlight their resilience and ongoing struggles around the world.
To date since its founding in December 2020, Airbnb.org has worked with organisations around the world to connect nearly 200,000 refugees and asylum seekers with free, temporary stays.
The UNHCR [the UN Refugee Agency] estimates that 100 million people were forced to leave their homes as of 2022, including more than 37 million refugees and asylum seekers.
Airbnb.org’s latest commitments for refugee relief include:
- A $2 million sponsorship initiative for refugees and asylum seekers entering the United States. Along with The Shapiro Foundation, Airbnb.org is establishing a sponsorship initiative to provide grants for housing support and match fundraising efforts of select refugee-focused non-profit organisations that connect newcomers with sponsors in the United States. The initiative supports expanded legal pathways for refugees to resettle in new communities in the country.
- A $1 million commitment in additional funding to Airbnb.org’s Refugee Fund. Launched in June 2021, the Refugee Fund helps support Airbnb.org’s work with refugees and asylum seekers worldwide, including those crossing international borders. The additional funding will be distributed as a combination of grants and direct vouchers to guests to help non-profits and local government agencies continue to meet the needs of refugees and asylum seekers in the United States and Latin America.
People fleeing humanitarian crises in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria and Venezuela account for nearly two-thirds of the world’s refugees, according to research from the UNHCR, and millions of them require a temporary place to stay. As a result, Airbnb.org is pledging to continue meeting ongoing refugee needs by working closely with organisations such as IOM, Nova Ukraine, Global Empowerment Mission [GEM], CWS and HIAS.
Together with organisations, hosts and donors, Airbnb.org says that it has provided emergency stays for thousands of refugees, including 135,000+ refugees from Ukraine, 34,000+ refugees from Afghanistan and 30,000+ refugees from other countries, including Syria and Venezuela.
At the same time, more than 91,000 hosts across 189 countries and regions are reported to have signed up to house guests at no cost or at a discount through Airbnb.org since the organisation was founded.
To honour World Refugee Day, Airbnb.org continues to welcome donations here, all of which will be matched up to a collective total of $5 million USD.
After being inspired by the response from hosts following Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the programme has evolved to focus on emergency response and to help provide stays to evacuees, relief workers, refugees, asylum seekers, and frontline workers fighting the spread of Covid-19.
Airbnb.org is a separate and independent entity from Airbnb, meaning that it does not charge service fees for Airbnb.org supported stays on its platform.
