Canada welcomed 163 Syrian refugees late Thursday, taking in the first of a planned 25,000 in a matter of months and promising them a better life as they flee their country's horrific war.

The refugees arrived just weeks after Canada's newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country would pull its fighter jets from a US-led coalition targeting Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria.

"Tonight they step off the plane as refugees. But they walk out of this terminal as permanent residents of Canada with social insurance numbers, with health cards and with an opportunity to become full Canadians," Trudeau said.

ALL MIGRANTS REGISTERED

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras yesterday admitted Greek border controls had been overwhelmed by the mass arrival of refugees earlier this year, but insisted all migrants were now being properly documented, reports AFP.

Tsipras also said the government had initially been "taken by surprise" by the sheer number of migrants, "but since September there has not been a single arrival who has not been registered." ARRIVALS FALL SHARPLY

The number of irregular migrants arriving in Greece fell sharply last month, with probably fewer than 100,000 people recorded by the EU border agency, less than half the number in October, a Frontex said yesterday.

Stressing that the data was not yet fully compiled, she said more than 200,000 people had arrived in October and that worsening weather appeared to be reducing flows.

It was too early to establish any trend following an EU-Turkish accord in late November to try and limit the numbers of migrants leaving Turkey, the spokeswoman said.