The Canadian government worked in secret for months to help gay and bisexual men escape arrest and torture in Chechnya, it was revealed last week.



Now, the organizations that made it happen have gone public, since most of the men fleeing have safely arrived.



Twenty-two men have arrived in Canada under a program created by the government in partnership with Rainbow Railroad and the Russian LGBT Network. In total, 31 people have been cleared to come to Canada.



According to Human Rights Watch, Chechen officials began abducting, interrogating, beating, and torturing men suspected of being gay, and forcing them to divulge names of other gay and bisexual men. Once released, authorities would inform the men's family's of their sexuality, pressuring the families to "cleanse" the "huge stain on family honor."

When the reports of abuse came out, Rainbow Railroad, a Canadian NGO that helps LGBT individuals flee persecution, asked the Canadian government to act. What resulted was a program, unique in the world, to move men out of safe houses in Russia and into Canada.

Canada's normal rules for refugees were bent to address the crisis, according to the Globe and Mail, which broke the news. The first Chechen arrived in June, with 20 others following.

Going public with the efforts would have put those being moved — the majority of whom are men — at risk, Kimahli Powell, executive director of Rainbow Railroad, told BuzzFeed Canada.