There was a tearful arrival at Trudeau airport on Wednesday as a Syrian family began their new life in Canada.
The family, which includes both parents and three children ages 12, 10 and 6, was sponsored by the Dorval Mosque.
Originally from the city of Aleppo, the family came to Canada via Frankfurt, Germany.
Mosque President Mehmet Deger said the family had been accepted as refugees in April but the volatility in Syria made bringing them to Canada difficult.
“It was extremely difficult because the situation was really dangerous in Syria,” said Mahdi Moufti, the Montreal-based brother of the father of the family. “They were afraid for the lives of their kids. They had no clean water, no food and their journey wasn’t easy. They had to go to Lebanon, from Lebanon to Turkey. The first place didn’t work so they went to another place. We’re really happy to have them here,, I’m really grateful to be Canadian and proud to be Canadian.”
The mosque provided the family with an apartment and a job for the father. They also supplied the $30,000 bank account required by the Quebec government for a family to come here from Syria, raised by private donations.
“We found them first a job, we found an apartment and then we furnished the apartment,” Mehmet Deger, President of the Dorval Mosque. “Today, we got the food for them and we’re going to take them to their home.”
The Dorval Mosque is also sponsoring two other families and hopes to have them arrive before summer.
