For years, the Dandashis — a Syrian refugee family living in Montreal — have been trying to get their entire family to Canada. This holiday season, the long-awaited reunion has finally happened.
Aysha Dandashi arrived in Montreal days ago to join her aunt and uncle. She told Global News about the horrors she escaped.
“It’s not easy when I wake up in the morning and I heard my friends or neighbors are killed,” she explained.
Other members of the extended Dandashi family have been put up in a hotel until they find a permanent home in Laval.
WATCH BELOW: Syrian refugees in Montreal
Moktada Dandashi is excited to try Montreal restaurants with his aunt and uncle.
“When I was in Syria, I listened to things about Christmas. But now I will live it,” he told Global News.
His uncle, Jasim Dandashi, fled the Assad regime at the beginning of the Syrian conflict. Dandashi’s son was imprisoned for 40 days at the beginning of the civil war, at which point he realized that he and his family had no choice but to leave.
It’s been one year since thousands of Syrian refugees arrived in North America.
READ MORE: Syrian refugees mark the one year anniversary of being welcomed to Canada
Quebec’s immigration minister has confirmed that the province will take in 7,300 Syrian refugees by the end of 2016.
Jasim Dandashi has been overwhelmed by the support that Canadians have given to his community.
“You find smiling people, that means they open their heart for you. Just only to hold you,” he told Global News, holding back tears.
Dandashi said he wanted to thank Justin Trudeau for reuniting him with his family this holiday season.
“I love him, really,” he said.
In fact, Jasim Dandashi is so enamored, he’s made a gift he wants to offer Trudeau for everything the country’s done for his family. Dandashi, an artist specializing in calligraphy, painted Justin Trudeau’s name in Arabic.
For Dandashi’s nephew, coming here has been the best holiday gift he could have ever asked for.
“It means everything to me. Now I will complete my studies here, I will work here. So that’s everything,” Moktada said