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Businesses step up to assist Afghan refugees to resettle in the U.S.

By Yashasvini on Aug 28, 2021 | 03:38 AM IST


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As Afghans scramble to get into U.S. military and coalition planes and evade the wrath of the Taliban’s rule, businesses are stepping up to provide aid to the refugees.

Airbnb, Verizon, Walmart, and Texas Medical Technologies are a few of the businesses that have announced initiatives to help rehabilitate Afghan refugees in the U.S.

On Tuesday, Airbnb and Airbnb.org, its philanthropic arm, said that it planned to offer free temporary housing for 20,000 Afghan refugees worldwide.

Over this past weekend, Airbnb.org collaborated with partners to place 165 refugees in secure accommodation immediately after they arrived in the United States.

To facilitate cheaper communication between the refugees and their families and friends, stranded in Afghanistan, Verizon announced its plans to waive charges for calls from its consumer, business, and residential landline customers to Afghanistan up until September 6, on Tuesday.

The telco also encouraged customers to donate $10 to the International Rescue Committee by texting RESCUE to 25383.

Meanwhile, medical equipment supplier and distributor, Texas Medical Technology, said it plans to hire 100 Afghan refugees within a year at a 144,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Houston.

It hopes to have employed 10 Afghan refugees by the end of the month, reported CNBC.

In these traumatic times, Hims & Hers, a telehealth platform that connects people to licensed healthcare professionals, wrote in a blog post on Wednesday, that it plans to do 10,000 mental health calls with Afghan refugees.

Other firms are donating to charities supporting the cause. Walmart will be donating $1 million to groups helping Afghan refugees in the U.S. through its philanthropic arm.

Thousands of Afghan refugees are still trying to flee the nation as President Joe Biden’s August 31 deadline draws closer.

(With inputs from CNBC)

Picture Credits – Time Magazine

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