Syrian refugees name newborn son after Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau
TORONTO -- A Syrian refugee couple have named their new baby after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in gratitude for his initiative to allow refugees to enter the country.
Justin Trudeau Adam Bilan was born Thursday in a Calgary, Alberta, hospital, the Toronto Star reported.
His parents, Afraa and Muhammad, came to Canada from their war-ravaged home nation with their two older children last year.
"We love this man, we appreciate him," mom Afraa Bilan told the paper. "He helped a lot of refugees. He's the reason we are in Canada." She noted that little Justin Trudeau Adam Bilan is the family's first Canadian and beat the rest of them to getting citizenship.
The Canadian government says more than 40,000 Syrian refugees have arrived in the country since November 2015.
By contrast, President Donald Trump ordered a 90-day halt on travel to the U.S. by citizens of Syria, as well as those from Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. He also ordered a 120-day suspension of the U.S. refugee program. Federal judges have put the policy on hold.
The United Nations reports more than 5 million Syrian refugees have fled the civil war tearing apart their homeland.
