Charlottetown officially welcomes Syrian refugees

A family of four Syrian refugees had a warm reception in Charlottetown Sunday afternoon.  

The Sabra family arrived in Charlottetown three weeks ago. They were sponsored by the Charlottetown Diocese Refugee Committee. 

The family fled Syria over a year ago, and have been living in Jordan as refugees for more than a year.

• Canada considers prioritizing religious minorities in Syria refugee resettlement
• 457 Syrian refugees resettled in Canada, but pledge was for 1,300

Marian Sabra was still a teenager when her family left Syria. She says living there during the civil war was horrific. 

"The situation in Syria was so bad, all the people died from starvation, from the bad groups who killed the children," she said.

Marian Sabra's father, Josef, said staying in Syria was not an option. He said there would often be gunfire right outside his door and dead bodies in the street.

Today, his dream is to watch his family thrive in Canada. 

Dan Doran, with the Charlottetown Diocese Refugee Committee, worked to bring the Sabra family to Prince Edward Island. 

"It's always a pleasure, this is the reward at the end of the day for the work that we all do. It's very satisfying, to say the least — not only to see the family here, but the happiness for the family members, to have their family reunited," he said.

Doran says two more Syrian families are awaiting approval to come to P.E.I. 

He's hopeful Canada will welcome greater numbers of refugees in the days to come, but admits it's unlikely the federal government will meet its commitment to bring 1,300 Syrian refugees to Canada by the end of 2014. 

Statistics tabled in the House of Commons last week show 457 refugees had arrived, as of mid-November.