A group of more than 30 refugees from Syria landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport Tuesday morning, where they were greeted with hugs, kisses and tears of joy.

Some had spent two years navigating through Canada’s refugee application process, until they got approval to connect with relatives here.

Dareen Soro, along with her husband and two kids, said she was relieved to finally be able to start a new life in London, Ont., almost five years after fleeing to Lebanon.

Soro said she plans to enroll her children, ages seven and nine, in school next week. “Hopefully the future for them is bright,” she added, speaking through an interpreter.

Aris Babikian, who sponsored a Syrian family, called it a “dream come true” that they had “finally” arrived.

He said all of the refugees have been through difficulty. “Any moment a bomb can explode,” he said, adding, “they don’t have work; they don’t have a life.”

“If it wasn’t for the generous program that the government brought we would not be able to bring these people,” Babikian said.

Political promises

Canada agreed last January to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees over three years, but just over 1,000 had arrived by July, according to government figures.

As deaths of refugees crossing the Mediterranean for asylum in Europe grabbed headlines, the government faced increasing criticism that its response to the five-year-old war has been slow.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently said that 2,500 Syrians had been resettled and that his Conservative party is committed to admitting 11,300 in total by the end of 2018, if re-elected.

The Conservatives have also said the government has sped up processing of asylum applications in Winnipeg, and deployed more personnel to embassies in Beirut, Amman and Ankara.

Tom Mulcair has committed his New Democrats to taking 46,000 government-sponsored refugees by 2019, including 10,000 refugees by the end of 2015 alone.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has long said Canada should take in 25,000 Syrian refugees.

More than 12 million people have been displaced and at least 200,000 have been killed since the Syrian civil war began, according to the United Nations.

More than four million of those displaced have registered with the UN as refugees, mostly in Turkey (1.94 million), Lebanon (1.14 million) and Jordan (629,000).

With reports from CTV Toronto and CTV London