A plane load of Syrian refugees will arrive at Glasgow Airport today to begin a new life in Scotland after being forcibly displaced from their homeland by civil war.

So what sort of life awaits them and how many of their compatriots will join them here?

HeraldScotland attempts to answer all of your questions.

How many Syrian refugees are coming to Scotland? 

The UK Government has committed to resettling 20,000 Syrians who are currently living in refugee camps across the Middle East, with 1,000 arrivals targeted between now and Christmas.

A total of 2,000 Syrian refugees will be housed in Scotland through this scheme.

So where will they live?

The Home Office has confirmed that more than 45 local authorities UK-wide have agreed to take part in the scheme.

About 20 of those authorities are Scottish, and five of them will receive an intake of Syrian refugees in today's first draft. But some local authorities are known to have requested that their involvement in the scheme is kept private.

Aren't there already some Syrian refugees in Scotland? 

Yes - and some have successfully integrated themselves into Scottish life, like Edinburgh couple Ayman and Iman Hirh whose experience was highlighted by HeraldScotland at the weekend. 

Ayman Hirh first arrived in London before accommodation was made available for him and his family in Scotland. Other Syrians have received support from private bodies such as universities in applying to the Home Office for refugee status.

What's the difference between a refugee and an asylum seeker?

As outlined by the Scottish Refugee Council, a refugee is defined as someone whose application for asylum has been accepted by the government having been recognised as needing protection under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. 

An asylum seeker is a person whom the government has not yet recognised as a refugee under the 1951 Convention. Asylum seekers are not permitted to work and must instead rely on State support. 

Is our country becoming over-run by migrants?

In the year ending June 2015, there were 25,771 applications for asylum in the UK, a big drop from the 2002 high of 84,132. About 10 per cent of these applications were made within Scotland.

In 2008, there were 2,859 asylum seekers housed by the Home Office in "dispersed accommodation" in Scotland, which was 0.05 per cent of the population. 

Who is in charge of managing the relocation of the new wave of Syrian refugees? 

In September Richard Harrington MP was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and given responsibility for coordinating the resettlement of 20,000 Syrian refugees in the UK over the next five years. Recent indications are that the process will be "front-loaded" rather than spread out evenly over the period.

Mr Harrington said this week: “We are well on our way to meet the Prime Minister’s pledge of 1,000 arrivals from the region by Christmas.

“It has taken a huge amount of effort and work to get to this point, involving many government departments, the UNHCR, local authorities the length and breadth of the United Kingdom and others.

“These flights mark a real step-change in the  scheme as we upscale it to resettle 20,000 Syrians by the end of this Parliament and we look forward to welcoming and helping hundreds of people in the coming weeks.”

What assurances have we been given that the refugees intend to live peacefully here? 

The Home Secretary, Theresa May, has insisted that the refugees will have been thoroughly screened to ensure they do not pose a terrorist threat. 

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has stressed that the refugees coming to the UK through the Syrian Vulnerable Peoples Relocation Scheme have "undergone stringent security checks". 

So why are people worried? 

Ahmed Almuhamed, 25, was one of the suicide bombers who took hostages in the Bataclan concert hall last Friday night in Paris, where 89 people were killed.

He reportedly came into Europe posing as a Syrian refugee with another of the bombers via the Greek island of Leros early last month. 

Social work chiefs in Glasgow and Inverclyde have written to Humza Yousaf, the International Development Minister, urging him to adopt a low-key approach to today's event. 

Could our government be doing more to help Syrian refugees?

That's a matter of opinion, but Oxfam said last month that it would consider a "fair share" for the UK to be about four times higher than its promised quota of 20,000 over the next five years. The charity recommended that the UK take in 21,295 Syrians by the end of 2016.  

According to UN global statistics there were 59.5 million people in 2014 who have been forcibly displaced. Turkey hosted 1.59 million refugees last year - more than any other country. 

Last year Syria, which has been riven by civil war since 2011, became the country with the most refugees. Afghanistan had previously held that status for three decades.