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First wave of Syrian refugees leave Jordan for Canada

Xinhua, December 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

The first wave of Syrian refugees in Jordan left on Sunday en route to Canada, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The 200 refugees are the first batch of some 10,000 who will have left Jordan for Canada by the end of February 2016, Mohammad Hawari, a senior associate at the UNHCR told Xinhua, adding that more refugees are flying to Canada in the next few weeks.

On Sunday, Jordanian Interior Minister Salameh Hammad met with Canada's Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister John McCallum to discuss support to Syrian refugees in Jordan.

Hammad referred to the burden and pressure on Jordan due to hosting a large number of Syrian refugees, while McCallum voiced appreciation of Jordan's efforts.

Canada plans to receive some 25,000 refugees from Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. McCallum said earlier in December that Canada is speeding up process Syrian refugees.

On Dec. 10, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed the first 160 refugees who arrived in the country. Endit