OTTAWA -- The head of a Toronto organization that helped gay men flee torture and abuse in Chechnya says they are coming to terms with life in Canada but remain fearful for their safety.
Kimahli Powell, executive director of Rainbow Railroad, says he believes the 22 men who have so far arrived in Canada are safe from any possible reprisals because there are few Chechens here who could do them harm.
Powell says the men are traumatized, but the focus now is on helping the asylum seekers adjust to life in what is an unfamiliar, albeit safe country.
He says the men are among 31 the government has helped bring to Canada in a clandestine effort after reports of torture and persecution of gay men in the Russian republic first surfaced last spring.
He says the final nine are expected to arrive in Canada imminently.
The government has not commented on the Chechen effort, but Powell credits Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault, the government's LGBTQ special adviser, with spearheading the initiative.
