Canada’s prime minister to welcome refugees at the airport

Canada’s welcoming stands in stark contrast to the US All 10 of Canada’s provincial premiers support taking in the refugees and members of the opposition, including the Conservative party, attended the welcoming late Thursday. Those bureaucrats will consider the location of any family or friends the Syrians might have in Canada as well as whether they will have access to religious services, trauma counselling and cultural organizations – and also whether a town or city has the capacity to take them in.

Canadians may recall the images of Syrian refugees arriving in German towns after long treks and bus rides through often hostile territory, with ordinary Germans carrying balloons and banners: “Refugees Welcome!”

“You’re in Canada now, with all the rights and protections and possibilities that confers”.

“You’ll find the place a little bigger than Damascus or Aleppo, and a whole lot chillier”. But that is behind you now.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government plans to resettle 25,000 Syrians throughout the country by February.

The debate in Canada over the acceptance of refugees echoes what’s happening in much of the Western world, where the desire to satisfy the humanitarian instinct clashes with concerns over security-especially in the wake of the attacks in Paris and elsewhere, and fears over the dangers the refugees may pose.

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

Since November 4,464 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada and there are more than 12,500 applications in process, according to government figures. Keoushkerian, a Syrian refugee of Armenian descent, said he and his family have been in Canada for 10 months and didn’t bother applying for asylum in the U.S. The couple immediately submitted a private sponsorship for her father and siblings through the Catholic Archdiocese and the St. Joseph’s Syriac Catholic Church in Mississauga. They are largely privately-sponsored refugees and some found out just days ago that they would be moving to Canada.

Those sponsors have agreed to provide the refugees with necessities including food, housing and clothing as well as social supports for at least a year. Canada will resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees in the coming months.

Only a small number (32 per cent) of Canadians actually think that Syrian refugees will have a positive effect on Canada’s economy.

They fled to Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon – living in refugee camps, shantytowns and private apartments, trying to figure out their next steps, watching as what they thought would just be a temporary move away from their home country began to look more permanent.