Fifty one Syrian refugees who have been living in a camp in Lebanon will arrive in Northern Ireland this afternoon.
Eleven of them are children aged under five.
They are part of the group of 20,000 Syrian refugees that the UK has committed to resettle over the next five years.
On the advice of the UK's Home Office and the PSNI, the media are not allowed to show images of the people arriving in Northern Ireland or publish details of the rented accommodation where they will be based.
It is expected that a second group will arrive in Northern Ireland early next year and those families will be resettled in the northwest area.
Under the UK's Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme the participants receive access to housing, medical care and education and they can work.
The Home Office provides funding of at least £10,000 for the first year.
Each participant is guaranteed humanitarian protection which includes the possibility of family reunion, if a person was separated from their partner or child when leaving their country.
At the end of a five year period, each participant can apply to settle permanently in the UK.
Hundreds of cards and messages of welcome from local people of all ages are awaiting them. A room full of children's toys and even a Christmas tree have also been provided.
Denise Wright from the Refugee and Asylum Forum said the public response had been amazing.
"One of the things we have seen is an overwhelming sense of people in the general community saying 'what we can we do?'," she said.
"My phone has been ringing off the hook (with people asking) 'what can we do, what can we give?"
Ms Wright said there was now no need for any more practical donations for the arriving families.
"We've already got everything that we require," she said. "But one of the things we have asked if you want to do something is send welcome cards."
During their first days in Belfast, the Syrians will receive medical, police and legal briefings about how life works in Northern Ireland.
Each family will be assigned a key worker, as well as offered translation support.
Neil McKittrick from the British Red Cross said: "The intention behind all of this is to really make it a welcoming place for the folk coming over from Syria.
"If you put yourself in their shoes they are coming from a terrible conflict in Syria, they have moved to refugee camps, this group will have been in Lebanon - they will have been there for a number of years.
"I suppose when they left they had hoped they would be back home pretty quick but that hasn't happened - they have been in refugee camps for a while.
"Coming to Northern Ireland, or coming to Europe at all, was not their number one option - it was probably one of the last things they considered.
"But such is the stage these people are at, they've really no choice but to come and get help and in Northern Ireland we are delighted we are able to support them," he said.
