First Syrian refugees expected to land Friday in Windsor

Windsor’s first four Syrian refugees — of the 25,000 Canada recently committed to bring in — will land at Windsor Airport Friday afternoon.

The mother, father, child and brother are part of the first flight that arrived in Toronto on Thursday. They will be privately sponsored in Windsor, thanks to the London Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church.

“There’s a lot of excitement,” said Gilbert Iyamuremye, the Windsor-based representative of the diocese’s refugee ministry. “But the most excited people are the relatives and close friends of the refugees.”

The four incoming refugees will stay with relatives in Windsor to start, before housing is found for them. Iyamuremye said incoming refugees need a lot of love and help when they first arrive.

“It’s always overwhelming,” he said Thursday. “They might come to Canada after experiencing horrible things. It’s a big change for them.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Drew Dilkens said he still doesn’t know how many Syrian refugees the City of Windsor will sponsor among the current influx.

“The mayor of every community in Canada is waiting for two things — the number of refugees coming and the timeline,” Dilkens said.

Windsor will be prepared, however, since the city has been co-ordinating housing and other needs behind the scenes in preparation for the Syrian arrivals.

Besides, as the fourth-most ethnically diverse city in Canada, Windsor often deals with refugees, including 500 last year alone.

Iyamuremye said the Diocese of London typically brings in about 85 refugees a year. This year, however, the church has so far welcomed 354, including Syrians and Iraqis, most of whom settle in Windsor or London.

“The Catholic Church has a strong belief in social justice,” he said. “Catholic teaching is about helping a stranger.”