Suspension of Airbnb Operations in Russia and Belarus
airbnb.co.uk
airbnb.co.uk
Ban on Belarus users is even more ironic how quickly the world has turned on them: just a few months ago they were welcomed in many places as victims of brutal dictator Lukashenko and his purges, but now they must suffer for not succeeding in overthrowing him.
Madness.
And honestly, anything that can hurt Russia is fair at this point. Including whatever collateral damage.
And no, this doesn't hurt "Russia" (as in Putin's war effort), but it does a great deal of hurt to anyone protesting war.
[1]: https://www.airbnb.ru/help/article/3211/%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B8%D...
Especially those Belorussians, just a few months ago they were fleeing from concentration camps, where they were tortured and raped, but now the situation is completely different, and the temporary houses they occupy would serve fleeing Ukrainian better.
But we aren't talking here about a noisy dog, we are talking about giving the keys to your home to citizens from two nations that in the last month had systematically bombed thousands of buildings, set fire and demolished millions of homes.
Have burnt-down thousands of houses like yours. After systematically ravaging them, and often after murdering all the owners (owners like you), and their entire families.
They --could-- be also really nice people but the tenant can't know it (and would be facing still a risk against their property being vandalized by a third actor, because is hosting Russians). You would be buying tickets for a lottery for housing the worse nightmarish guest in the planet. The best outcome for the tenant would be to receive a few bucks.
The worse would be renting your home to possible arsonists, looters, people that could be hiding stolen properties in your property, or even serial murderers. It just doesn't worth the trouble, specially when there is a high demand and plenty of better candidates.
What I'm trying to say is that Airbnb is not a charity. "All the customers should paid the same because moral" is not how companies work. Some customers are more expensive to the company than other. Some carry a too poor cost/benefits ratio.
Please remember that even according to the official polls, at least 28,000,000 (20%) of Russian citizens do not support the war.
I feel the need to repeat this in every message: I am a Russian national, living outside of Russia, I do not pay taxes in Russia. I am strongly against war (this or any other). The war is causing massive death and destruction to the country where half of my friends come from, and indirectly to my own country. Regardless of that, I am ready to accept any hate coming towards me due to my place of birth.
Having said that, I am in the position to understand where people are coming from. My late great-grandfather hated not only the Nazis, but all Germans because of what they leaders did to his people. Decades after the war, he still wanted all Germans to die. I couldn't blame him, nor can I blame the rest of the world today.
So, for example if Airbnb will deny access to black people, because there are violent criminals among black people in the US, you would support such policy, too? If no, I'd love to hear your argument why it would be any different.
You do make many emotional appeals, describing the untold horrors inflicted upon Ukrainians, and to make up for that you suggest punishing my friend who resides in South Africa and hasn't been in Russia for almost 10 years now. She just had her booking cancelled in Kenya.
I would add to the absurdity of your position the simple fact that among Russians travelling abroad, the support of Putin's fascist regime is almost non-existent. (it was high among Russians living abroad, who liked the idea of him projecting the strongman image, but people who really experienced his regime knew better).
If there is a queue of buyers that look a much better candidates than me, why should you be forced to rent me your home?.
Airbnb can make any policy that they think is good for the company. They aren't a NGO. If you want to use it you need to accept their rules. Period.
Yes, life is unfair. Nobody would keep you from using another platform to rent your house. There is not such thing as the "right" to use the platform.
Of course, they'd lay out all the arguments supporting their position you kindly listed. Not having blacks is good for the company, why should homeowners be forced to let them in their homes. No-no, it's not punishing, just use another platform.
Would that be ok, or not?
Not. Nationality is not ethnicity. The correct equivalent wouldn't be black people, would be not wanting to stand near any Hutu one month after the Rwandan genocide. That would be reasonable, and I would say exactly the same. War criminals can burn in hell, with Abu Ghraib torturers and the rest of the subhuman worms. Nobody owns they any love or respect.
If I'm not wrong, People with Russian ethnicity and Ukranian (or Latvian, or Moldavan) citizenship are still allowed to use Airbnb, therefore your former claim is false. Most of the older people living there had born in the USSR in fact and many of them are still allowed to use the platform.
This is not a problem of race or of "Airbnb wants to cancel my culture". This is a consequence of sanctions, that are in turn a consequence of invading a country to start a genocide and destroy and loot as many as possible.
Companies are free to not operate in every country of the planet, and can close their office in North Korea or Russia, or stop doing business with anybody, at any time, by any reason. I can understand that in some countries the boundaries between companies and government are blurred, but is not the case of AirBnb.
> This is a consequence of sanctions, that are in turn a consequence of invading a country to start a genocide and destroy and loot as many as possible.
So you are calling for the punishment of people who have protested the criminal regimes and had to flee Russia and Belarus to save their lives? Just yesterday there was an assessment on Twitter that advancement on Kiev stalled because Belarus partisans kept disrupting railway lines. Now you support AirBnb decision to refuse those partisans service, if they'd ever need to escape the country. That's .. just wow.
When I was young, I thought how could it be that European countries have turned their backs on Jews fleeing the Nazi Germany. But now I see a lot of that very kind of people, very content with their virtue now they 'punished' evil russians.
Hint: If you really want to force Putin to stop the war, tell EU and US governments to stop buying oil and gas from Putin for hundreds of billions of euros every year.
People who willingly stay in Russia, should be punished regardless of their position, because they fund the aggressor's army with their taxes and even fines, which they pay for their anti-government activities.
1) to get a asylum they somehow need to escape the country first, and stay somewhere before getting to the country of destination. This policy makes it a problem.
2) the policy, as it is worded, is applied to everyone who holds russian citisenship, regardless of residence. This is supported by the acecdotical evidence of my friend's reservation cancelled, who has a residence in South Africa.
But your overall position about punishing people staying in Russia regardless of their views is rather myopic. How do you ever plan to overthrow Putin's regime if you are severing all means of support for your allies within Russia? They are already oppressed from within, and you further their oppression from the outside. Good job!