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Canada Welcomes First Plane of Syrian Refugees

The first plane carrying Syrian refugees arrived in Toronto late Thursday where they were greeted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

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Image: Two Syrian refugee children pose while their family undergoes medical screening before the beginning of an airlift to Canada, in Beirut

A Syrian refugee child flashes a "thumbs-up" as he waits with his family during a medical screening in Beirut before an airlift to Canada on Dec. 9, 2015.

After months of promises and weeks of preparation, the first planeload of Syrian refugees headed to Canada on Thursday, aboard a military plane to be met by Canada's prime minister at Toronto's airport.

— Corporal Darcy Lefebvre / Canadian Forces Combat Camera via Reuters
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Image: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau poses with airport staff as they await Syrian refugees to arrive at the Toronto Pearson International Airport

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau poses with airport staff as they await the arrival of Syrian refugees on Dec. 11. 

Canada's Liberal government plans to resettle 10,000 refugees from Syria's four-year-old civil war by the end of the year and a further 15,000 by the end of February.

— MARK BLINCH / Reuters
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Image: Canada's PM Trudeau poses with airport staff as they await Syrian refugees to arrive at the Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga

Trudeau poses with airport staff as they await the refugees. 

— MARK BLINCH / Reuters
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Image: Syrian refugees are greeted by Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on their arrival from Beirut at the Toronto Pearson International Airport

Trudeau greets Syrian refugees 16-month-old Madeleine Jamkossian and her father Kevork Jamkossian, a gynecologist from Aleppo,as they arrive.

"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 difficult situations," Trudeau said.

— MARK BLINCH / Reuters
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Trudeau presents Madeleine Jamkossian with cold-weather clothing. 

— Nathan Denette / Canadian Press via AP
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Trudeau greets newly-arrived Syrian refugees Lucie Garabedian, her father Vanig Garabedian, her mother Anjilik Jaghlassian and sister Anna-Maria Garabedian. 

— Nathan Denette / Canadian Press via AP
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Image: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau helps a young Syrian refugee try on a winter coat after she arrived with her family from Beirut at the Toronto Pearson International Airport

Trudeau and Lucie Garabedian help her daughter try on a new winter coat. 

— MARK BLINCH / Reuters
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Workers help newly-arrived Syrian refugees load their luggage onto buses.

— Nathan Denette / Canadian Press via AP
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Image: Syrian refugees arrive at a hotel in Mississauga, Ontario

Syrian refugees arrive at a hotel in Mississauga, Ontario on Dec. 11.

— MARK BLINCH / Reuters
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