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Sixteen Syrian refugees were welcomed to Calgary on Monday by tearful family members they hadn’t seen in years, and a throng of smiling strangers who brought signs, warm winter clothing, teddy bears, toys, and candy to the airport.

After fleeing war-torn Syria, living in Lebanon for a year and three days, and spending countless hours on an airplane, Antoine Yousef, his wife, his wife’s sister, his 80-year-old mom, and his three-year-old twin daughters couldn’t stop smiling as they walked through the arrival gate at the Calgary International Airport on Monday afternoon.

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Stuffies and a brown paper bag full of snacks were thrust in little Elena and Maysa’s hands by strangers as their emotional parents hugged relatives including cousin Ashour Esho.

“I’m so proud for my daughters to be raised here in Canada, in this great country. You have democracy, freedom, friendly people, everything,” Yousef, who worked as a pharmacists in Syria, said in arabic through his cousin Esho, who acted as a translator.