Canada Prepares to Accept First Plane of Syrian Refugees

Most are now living in refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

“It will be a great day”.

A second plane is scheduled to carry more refugees from Beirut to Montreal on Saturday. But the nature of this programs means very little of that is happening before the refugees arrive in Canada and they’ll have to learn as they go.

Border agents, health officials and immigration officers run the refugees through a battery of tests. In preparation for the influx of newcomers, temporary processing centers have been set up at airports in Montreal and Toronto as Canadian authorities transition refugees into permanent housing across the country. President Barack Obama will roll out the red carpet for a planned visit next year by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, hosting a formal state dinner for the new leader, the White House said yesterday.

But Canada will show the world our Canadian values by bringing in 25,000 refugees.

Since the start of 2014, Canada has welcomed 3,500 Syrian refugees. As of yet, a number hasn’t been given regarding how many Syrians are expected to call Newfoundland home.

With security concerns, immigration paperwork and the flight’s late-night arrival, most sponsors and family members will not be able to meet the refugees at the airport, but the government has arranged for the refugees to stay overnight at nearby hotels, Garboushian-Katrjian said.

The first 300 arrivals are among some 10,000 privately sponsored refugees the government is seeking to welcome by December 31.

Initially, that promise had been to bring all those people to Canada by year’s end, but the government was forced to spread the commitment over a longer time period because of the logistics involved. Both flights are utilizing Canadian government military aircraft and will carry around 150 refugees each, but chartered flights will be used later this month. Details of the Liberal plan haven’t yet been released. Those would be the cases targeted for settlement by the end of the year; private cases are easier because the support structure is already in place.

A by-the-numbers look at the Syrian refugee crisis and Canada’s effort to resettle some 25,000 of them before the end of February.