Syrian refugees arrive in Canada, which one family calls ‘paradise’

The first flight arrived just before midnight carrying 163 refugees who fled the civil war in Syria.

Federal Immigration Minister John McCallum says Canada is still on track to welcome 10,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year.

The new Liberal government campaigned on a pledge to resettle 25,000 Syrians this year.

In the midst of Canada’s first efforts to resettle Syrian refugees into the country, Canada’s children are sending in heartwarming video messages to welcome their new neighbors, some of which have been compiled in the video above.

Syrian refugees receive welcome bags at the Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, on December 11, 2015.

Incredible to welcome refugees to their new home in Canada tonight.

The warm welcoming for the refugees stands in stark contrast next to the opinion of many governors in the USA who have been outspoken about banning refugees entry into the country.

Toronto’s major newspaper, the Toronto Star, gave them an emotional welcome on the front page of Thursday’s edition.

“It was the Sikh community, which I belong to, which stepped up and said we wanted to do a coordinated effort”.

He suggests dozens more planeloads of refugees will arrive in the next few weeks to help meet that target.

The Canadian programmes are a practical expression of support to Syrian refugees and demonstration of solidarity to those countries in the region hosting more than four million Syrian refugees.

The centre, operated jointly by the Canadian government, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), the Danish Refugee Council and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), began registering Syrian refugees slated for resettlement in Canada on 29 November.

Refugees now in Lebanon are being transferred to Jordan before taking flights to Canada, IOM said. The pair said they had made arrangements with airport security to have the items -and several hundreds more bags – brought to the designated terminal where the government flight landed.