Over 150 human rights organizations are pressuring Airbnb to drop its sponsorship of the upcoming Olympic games in China, due to the communist country’s oppression of their Muslim minority Uyghur population.
The letter takes Airbnb to task for not living up to their 2019 proclamation that the games would be “accessible” and a place “where anyone can belong.”
“With over 2 million Uyghurs arbitrarily detained in internment camps, with pro-democracy activists being rounded up en masse in Hong Kong, and with Tibet now listed as the least free place in the world, alongside Syria, it is hard to imagine how this will be the case,” the group’s statement reads.
The statement specifically highlights China’s abusive treatment of Tibetans and Uyghur Muslims, claiming that those groups will be “unable to freely travel to watch the 2022 Winter Games.”
The human rights groups are demanding that Airbnb pressure the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to take action.
“We urge you to use your influence with the IOC to press for the Games to be moved and if this doesn’t happen to immediately remove your support, or risk being tainted by the association,” the statement read.
Multiple nations have accused China of perpetrating a genocide against the Uyghurs. China has steadfastly denied those claims.
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