First government sponsored refugees to arrive Thursday

“Two days ago, we were very anxious about this issue, but thankfully, the government of Lebanon has responded very well and we now have exit visas, certainly enough for the first two planes to come from that part of the world to Canada”, said McCallum.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for blocking Muslims from entering the United States and some Republican candidates and governors have called for keeping out Syrian refugees.

The plane carrying 163 Syrian refugees touched down in Toronto just before midnight on Thursday and will be followed by a second military airlift to Montreal on Saturday.

John McCallum, the immigration, refugee, and citizenship minister, assured citizens the refugees will wait in line just like everyone else.

The Liberals are aiming to bring 10,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by the end of the year and another 15,000 by the end of February.

Former Conservative Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who lost the October 19 election to Trudeau, had declined to resettle more Syrian refugees, despite the haunting image of a drowned 3-year-old Syrian boy washed up on a Turkish beach.

“None of us could have made this happen without Canadians from coast to coast stepping up and helping”, Trudeau said.

The headline on the front page Thursday’s Toronto Star, Canada’s largest circulation newspaper, read: “Welcome to Canada”, with the Arabic translation below: Ahlan wa sahlan. We congratulate Mr. Trudeau and First Nations leaders for launching a new era in federal-aboriginal relations that cannot only right the injustices of the past but also provide a road map toward a new prosperity for Canada’s original peoples.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on hand to welcome them at a temporary processing centre at Pearson International Airport. Hundreds of Syrian refugees have already arrived via commercial aircraft since November 4. Subsequent flights in December will be chartered.

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.

Canada allows organizations, communities and groups of five or more private citizens to sponsor refugees coming to the country.

Canada has long prided itself on opening its doors to asylum seekers. Canada is in the midst of several multi-year commitments to resettle refugees from Eritrea, Sudan, Iraq, Bhutan, Turkey and elsewhere. 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.