Airbnb vows free housing for 20,000 Afghan refugees globally

A Pakistani paramilitary soldier stands guard while Afghan families enter Pakistan through a border crossing point in Chaman, Pakistan, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Jafar Khan)

In this Aug. 16, 2021, file photo hundreds of people gather near a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane along the perimeter at the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. After the Taliban takeover, employees of the collapsed government, civil society activists and women are among the at-risk Afghans who have gone into hiding or are staying off the streets. They hope for a way to leave their homeland. (AP Photo/Shekib Rahmani, File)

Afghan people who were transported from Afghanistan, walk after disembarking a plane, at the Torrejon military base as part of the evacuation process in Madrid, Monday. Aug. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrea Comas)

NEW YORK (AP) — Airbnb offered free housing to 20,000 Afghan refugees globally on Tuesday and sought more assistance from hosts who rent property through the home-sharing company.

“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," said CEO Brian Chesky on Twitter. “I hope this inspires other business leaders to do the same. There's no time to waste."

The UN Refugee Agency said last month 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.

White House officials said 28 U.S. military flights ferried about 10,400 people to safety out of Taliban-held Afghanistan over 24 hours that ended early Monday morning, and 15 C-17 flights over the next 12 hours brought out another 6,660.