Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was photographed on Thursday greeting 163 Syrian refugees who had recently touched down on a government-sponsored flight from Beirut, a painful reminder of how much easier it is to do good things in a country that hasn’t been hijacked by racist ideologues.
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Toronto’s airport authority urged Canadians not to come to the airport to greet the refugees or drop off donations, saying: “We’re so proud that our community wants to help, but such a response would be very overwhelming for those arriving”. Harper’s government insisted Syrian refugees needed to be carefully vetted in case they posed a security threat.
“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.
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”.
Meanwhile, aid agencies said that Canada has set a humanitarian example by swiftly taking in some of the desperate Syrian refugees.
A spokesman for Obama retorted by pointing to a poll that suggests Trump’s plan is opposed by a clear majority of Americans: “What we are seeing here is a pretty cynical attempt on the part of one Republican politician to capitalize on people’s fears and anxieties”, Josh Earnest said.
Canadians eager to show their support for the newcomers weren’t deterred by the fact that they couldn’t do so face to face.
Andrew Harris, 51, said he wanted to counter the fearful messaging about Muslims that has circulated since the Paris attacks.
The country plans to resettle some 25,000 refugees by March, while the USA plans to take in 10,000 refugees over the next year.
Canada’s commitment reflects the change in government after October’s election. The child had relatives in Canada, and the refugee crisis became a major campaign issue. The first Canadians the Syrians were to meet upon landing at Toronto’s Pearson airport range from the prime minister to a team of civil servants and border officers who will complete the final pieces of paperwork required. That deadline has since been pushed back to the end of February, with an estimated 10,000 refugees expected before 2016. It airlifted more than 5,000 people from Kosovo in the late 1990s, more than 5,000 from Uganda in 1972 and resettled 60,000 Vietnamese in 1979-1980.
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Odjaghian said numerous refugees she spoke to, especially young people, have expressed that arriving in Canada is a chance to rebuild their lives.
