The first Tibetan refugees among 1,000 that will come to sa国际传媒 in the next two years arrived in Vancouver over the weekend.
sa国际传媒 agreed to taken in the Tibetans after the Dalai Lama, Tibet鈥檚 exiled spiritual leader, made a direct appeal to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2007.
The Canadian government announced the immigration program in 2010.
The move has been criticized by China, which claims Tibet as one of its territories.
On Saturday, the Tibetans connecting flight from Toronto was delayed about three hours because of snow, adding to their marathon journey from Arunachal Pradesh, India. The Indian community is the seat of the Tibetan government in exile.
The 21 Tibetans were met by dozens of people at Vancouver International Airport, including local Tibetans and their sponsor families.
Despite the long journey, there were lots of happy faces among the Tibetans, which included a family with three boys, but mostly single people between 18 to 45, said Shenpenn Khymsar, a local Tibetan activist and film maker who helped welcome the newcomers.
The new immigrants are largely the children of Tibetans who fled Tibet after China took control after an invasion in 1951.
鈥淭hey were travelling for more than 30 hours. It was overwhelming. They were nervous, excited, tired,鈥� said Khymsar.
鈥淏ut it was nice. They have so much support, and we are all there to help them. I am just excited for their new lives and new possibilities. They鈥檒l be able to support their families and village back home,鈥� he said.
The sponsors agree to provide support for the refugees for one year, providing housing and helping them integrate into Canadian life.
鈥淚f some of them are capable of being independent sooner, that鈥檚 great. They find a job, they want to move out,鈥� said Khymsar, noting that about 75 per cent have functional English.
He said they continue to look for more sponsors across sa国际传媒 and for donations. To help go to www.projecttibetsociety.ca.
About 100,000 Tibetan refugees live in settlements across India and Nepal, says the sa国际传媒 Tibet Committee, which is overseeing the immigration to sa国际传媒.
About 1,000 Tibetans are estimated continue to leave the Chinese-controlled region each year, trekking across the Himalayans.
About 6,500 Tibetans live in sa国际传媒 now.
The new immigrants are expected to settle initially in the Toronto and Ottawa areas, and in the Vancouver and Sunshine Coast areas.
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