Syrian refugee children go wild for furry Canada greeting

Syrian refugee children arriving in Canada were accidentally housed in the same hotel as a Furries convention, with social media going wild about these two unexpected groups meeting.

Furries are a subculture interested in fictional anthropomorphic animal characters, and concerns initially rang out about the two groups meeting.

“A major concern that VancouFur has is ensuring that each and every one of the refugees (and attendees) feels welcome and safe and the fact that this is likely to be a major shock to them,” organisers said in a message to attendees earlier this week.

However, while furries have at times been subjected to ridicule and viewed with suspicion, they were widely adored by the arriving Syrian children with images of the two groups hugging going viral.

Canada has been widely praised for its handling of the Syrian refugee crisis, resettling 25,000 people in four months.

After reaching the target earlier this month, Canadian authorities said they would bring even more refugees, pledging to take in a total of 55,800 political refugees in 2016, many of them fleeing the Syrian civil war.