Thousands of Ukrainian refugees temporary housed through initiative
Accommodation provider Airbnb has partnered with international NGO Save the Children Sweden to provide temporary housing to families fleeing from Ukraine. It is estimated that over 200,000 refugees from Ukraine could make their way to Sweden.
The initiative called A Safe Start hopes to provide free temporary housing to refugees across Sweden.
Airbnb are calling for more hosts to sign up to provide free or discounted accommodation to refugee families.
Across Europe Airbnb has pledged over 100,000 places for refugees fleeing the conflict, and in the three weeks since the announcement over 16,700 hosts have signed up to provide housing in their properties or homes.
Airbnb.org is also working with partners across Europe to begin connecting refugees fleeing Ukraine to housing, including the International Organization for Migration, as well as the government of Germany.
Yet, as the pandemic and restrictions are easing across Europe, there has been a rush for international travel and holidays across Europe. Travellers are however more cautious of using hotels and other communal holiday accommodation, preferring self-contained accommodation for hygiene and safety regions.
Since the pandemic, Airbnb has seen a great surge in demand for self-contained housing and individual lets. But, even with the new charitable initiatives, it seems Airbnb will have a tough time convincing hosts to provide free or discounted refugee accommodation and forgoing their income in a challenging economic climate.
Though Airbnb has received a significant amount in small direct donations from more than 69,000 individual donors across 95 countries.
It is hoped that this funding will provide relief accommodation for refugees, at least until they can get access to government funding provisions in their safe destination country.