Canada greets first Syrian refugees

Harper’s government insisted Syrian refugees needed to be carefully vetted in case they posed a security threat.

“Welcome to your new home”, Canada’s Prime Minister told her and her family as they were surrounded by government workers and volunteers who seemed almost as excited to see them as they were to finally make it Canada.

Just when you thought your imaginary Canadian boyfriend (and, okay, the Canadian Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau couldn’t get any more delightful, the world was served up with an incredibly moving gesture of hospitality and compassion – as he personally welcomed the first 163 Syrian refugees (of the 25,000 he hopes to place before March 2016) into Canada.

The country’s Immigration Minister, John McCallum, informed that all of Canada’s 10 provinces approved the measure to accept refugees.

In a story December 11 about Syrian refugees arriving in Canada, The Associated Press relying on a pool report from Canadian Press misidentified the occupations of refugees Kevork Jamkossian as a gynecologist and Georgina Zires as a lab technician.

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.

The leader is pushing forward with his pledge to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees in Canada by the end of February.

“We don’t have direct access, sadly, but these are going to be delivered, ” Dunlop said.

“They’ve been having a very hard time there so we wanted them to have a good start here in Canada since all dreams come true here”, she said.

“You are home”, Trudeau said as the first few passengers landed after their 16-hour flight from Beirut.

Justin Trudeau looks at winter wear that will be handed out to refugees from Syria after they arrive at Pearson International Airport.

Slowly, the exhausted men, women, children – still overwhelmed with emotions – got off the white, chartered bus and into the chilly morning air, carrying all the belongings they left home with along with the welcome gift packages from Canada.

Now that he’s in Canada, Jenanian said he hopes to improve his English and get a steady job. A young girl in a pink jacket and matching hat and scarf descended the steps of the bus, while a father carried his daughter in his arms into the hotel. Another plane will arrive in Montreal on Sunday.

“Today, we welcome many Syrian refugees who were forced to flee their homeland because of war and conflict”.

Reprinted with permission from Toronto Star.