Canadian Prime Minister Greets Incoming Syrian Refugees in Person: ‘You Are Home’

Canada’s national defence minister is describing how emotional it was to greet the first wave of Syrian refugees who arrived in Canada on Thursday.

“This is a wonderful night, where we get to show not just a planeload of new Canadians what Canada is all about, we get to show the world how to open our hearts and welcome in people who are fleeing extraordinarily hard situations”, Trudeau said.

Trudeau and Wynne greeted the first two families to come through processing and gave them winter coats.

With much coaxing, a exhausted and bewildered little girl finally managed a sweet smile for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as she was handed a teddy bear.

Tsipras also said the government had initially been “taken by surprise” by the sheer number of migrants, “but since September there has not been a single arrival who has not been registered”.

In times of crisis in decades past, Canada resettled refugees quickly and in large numbers.

“CN will join with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and other business leaders to direct funds to assist the needs of refugees”, says CN board Chairman Robert Pace. “And when we got them together, it was an overwhelming response”, Randeep Sarai, MP for Surrey Centre, was quoted as saying.

Canada has promised to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year, and 25,000 by March.

“Bless this country”, said Hagop Karageouzian, as he waited for the service to start in the crowded church.

Syrian refugees begin to arrive in Canada at Pearson International Airport in Mississauga on Dec, 10, 2015. “The Canadians are extremely welcoming”.

“The humanitarian need is great and time is short to help welcome refugees arriving on our doorstep”, said Luc Jobin, executive vice president and chief financial officer of CN.

To date, some 30 countries have pledged more than 160,000 places for Syrians under resettlement and other forms of humanitarian admissions schemes, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). “The most important thing is that Canada is a very safe country and we are very happy that we are here”.

See more images from the group’s arrival below.

The government’s most recent figures show that 1,537 permanent resident visas have so far been issued and nearly 12,538 refugee applications are now being processed.